Cannabinoids and chronic pelvic pain in women: Focus on endometriosis

Ioana Marcu, Amy Gee, Becky Lynn
In: Journal of Endometriosis and Pelvic Pain Disorders · 2021 · vol. 13(3) , pp. 155–165 · doi:10.1177/22840265211011277 · W3185620511
Review OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 5 in-corpus citations
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⚙ AI-generated summary by gemini-2.5-flash-lite, 2026-06-08 ⓘ

This review explores the endocannabinoid system's role in women's chronic pelvic pain conditions, particularly endometriosis, and discusses limited data on cannabinoid use for refractory pain.

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Abstract

Chronic pelvic pain in women is common and frequently difficult to treat. Chronic pelvic pain often develops in the setting of endometriosis, interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome, and vulvodynia. Cannabinoids are a promising treatment modality for non-cancer chronic pain, but have not been studied in women with chronic pelvic pain nor in specific chronic pelvic pain conditions. This review focuses on the interaction of the endocannabinoid system with the menstrual cycles, with endometriotic lesions, and within the bladder. Furthermore, it provides a brief overview of existing literature of the effects of endocannabinoids on chronic pain generally, with a focus on neuropathic pain. Finally, it discusses limited data available regarding the use of cannabinoids in women with chronic pelvic pain conditions. In the opinion of the authors, cannabinoids are a reasonable treatment modality for refractory chronic pelvic pain, especially if a neuropathic component is suspected. Practitioners should expect a modest effect on pain levels with an acceptable safety profile.

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Condition tags

endometriosischronic_pelvic_paininterstitial_cystitis

Citation neighborhood (2-hop)

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. Outer rings show 2-hop neighbours — papers reached through the immediate citers/citees. [ collapse to 1-hop ]

References (100)

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last seen: 2026-06-04T00:00:01.174412+00:00
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