The importance of pelvic nerve fibers in endometriosis

Emily J. Miller, Miller EJ, Fraser Is, Ian S. Fraser
Women's health (London, England) · 2015 · vol. 11(5) , pp. 611–618 · doi:10.2217/whe.15.47 · PMID:26314611 · W1915281019
Review OA: gold CC0 ⤵ 41 in-corpus citations
📄 Open PDF View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by gemini-2.5-flash-lite, 2026-06-06 ⓘ

This paper reviews current knowledge on pelvic nerve fiber presence and density in endometriosis, suggesting their potential role in chronic pelvic pain generation.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

Several lines of recent evidence suggest that pelvic innervation is altered in endometriosis-affected women, and there is a strong presumption that nerve fibers demonstrated in eutopic endometrium (of women with endometriosis) and in endometriotic lesions play roles in the generation of chronic pelvic pain. The recent observation of sensory C, sensory A-delta, sympathetic and parasympathetic nerve fibers in the functional layer of endometrium of most women affected by endometriosis, but not demonstrated in most women who do not have endometriosis, was a surprise. Nerve fiber densities were also greatly increased in myometrium of women with endometriosis and in endometriotic lesions compared with normal peritoneum. Chronic pelvic pain is complex, and endometriosis is only one condition which contributes to this pain. The relationship between the presence of certain nerve fibers and the potential for local pain generation requires much future research. This paper reviews current knowledge concerning nerve fibers in endometrium, myometrium and endometriotic lesions, and discusses avenues of research that may improve our knowledge and lead to enriched understanding and management of endometriotic pain symptoms.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

endometriosischronic_pelvic_pain

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Endometrium Endometrium Myometrium Myometrium Nerve Fibers Adult Adult Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometrium Endometrium Female Female Humans Humans Myometrium Myometrium Nerve Fibers Nerve Fibers

Citation neighborhood

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

References (44)

Cited by (44)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-10-10T06:11:15.153948+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-10-08T21:16:08.491429+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK