Pelvic Pain Syndromes: Clinical Features and Management

Chronic pelvic pain (CPP) is common, affecting approximately one in six of the adult female population (1) and can have devastating social and economic consequences. Pain which is very severe even if infrequent may make it difficult to hold down a job or care for one’s children. Extra support becomes essential, leading to a loss of confidence and distortion of social roles and responsibilities. Doctors tend to find CPP a difficult symptom to address and many women feel that the response they have received from their doctor has been less than sympathetic (2). All these factors make for a pressing need to improve our understanding and management of this complex symptom.