Chronic Pelvic Pain

Sherif A. Shazly, Shannon K. Laughlin-Tommaso
In: Gynecology · 2020 · pp. 221–249 · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-41128-2_6 · W4248255128
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This paper reviews gynecologic and non-gynecologic causes of chronic pelvic pain, a condition defined by pain below the umbilicus for over six months, and how to differentiate them through clinical assessment.

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⚙ AI-generated deep summary by claude@2026-05, 2026-05-18 · read from full text ⓘ

This book chapter defines chronic pelvic pain as pain below the umbilicus persisting for at least six months that causes functional disability or requires treatment. The authors note that while chronic pelvic pain is a common gynecology clinic presentation, only about 20% of cases are attributable to gynecologic causes, with endometriosis named among them. The chapter outlines how clinicians can differentiate gynecologic from non-gynecologic causes through history, physical examination, and work-up. As a textbook chapter rather than primary research, it does not present new study data, and the publicly available content here is limited to the abstract and reference list. Relevance to endometriosis: endometriosis is cited as one of the gynecologic causes of chronic pelvic pain and recurs across the chapter's references, though the paper's main focus is the broader differential diagnosis of chronic pelvic pain.

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Abstract

Chronic pelvic pain is defined as pain situated below the umbilicus, for at least 6 months, that causes functional disability or requires treatment. Although chronic pelvic pain is a common presentation to gynecology clinics, only 20% of these cases are attributed to gynecologic causes including endometriosis. In this chapter, we discuss gynecologic and non-gynecologic causes of chronic pelvic pain and how to differentiate through history, examination, and work-up.
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Abstract Chronic pelvic pain is defined as pain situated below the umbilicus, for at least 6 months, that causes functional disability or requires treatment. Although chronic pelvic pain is a common presentation to gynecology clinics, only 20% of these cases are attributed to gynecologic causes including endometriosis. In this chapter, we will discuss gynecologic and non-gynecologic causes of chronic pelvic pain and how to differentiate through history, examination, and work-up. Access this chapter Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout Purchases are for personal use only Similar content being viewed by others Further Reading Ayorinde AA, Bhattacharya S, Druce KL, et al. Chronic pelvic pain in women of reproductive and post-reproductive age: a population-based study. Eur J Pain. 2017;21:445. Bazot M, Bharwani N, Huchon C, et al. European society of urogenital radiology (ESUR) guidelines: MR imaging of pelvic endometriosis. Eur Radiol. 2017;27:2765. Burney RO, Giudice LC. Pathogenesis and pathophysiology of endometriosis. Fertil Steril. 2012;98:511. Cheong YC, Smotra G, Williams AC. Non-surgical interventions for the management of chronic pelvic pain. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2014;3:CD008797. Dunselman GA, Vermeulen N, Becker C, et al. ESHRE guideline: management of women with endometriosis. Hum Reprod. 2014;29:400. Gambone JC, Mittman BS, Munro MG, et al. Consensus statement for the management of chronic pelvic pain and endometriosis: proceedings of an expert-panel consensus process. Fertil Steril. 2002;78:961. Howard FM. Chronic pelvic pain. Obstet Gynecol. 2003;101:594. Lippman SA, Warner M, Samuels S, et al. Uterine fibroids and gynecologic pain symptoms in a population-based study. Fertil Steril. 2003;80:1488. Nisenblat V, Bossuyt PM, Farquhar C, et al. Imaging modalities for the non-invasive diagnosis of endometriosis. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2016;2:CD009591. Practice bulletin no. 114: management of endometriosis. Obstet Gynecol. 2010;116:223. Practice Committee of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Treatment of pelvic pain associated with endometriosis: a committee opinion. Fertil Steril. 2014;101:927. Speer LM, Mushkbar S, Erbele T. Chronic pelvic pain in women. Am Fam Physician. 2016;93:380. Zondervan KT, Yudkin PL, Vessey MP, et al. Prevalence and incidence of chronic pelvic pain in primary care: evidence from a national general practice database. Br J Obstet Gynaecol. 1999;106:1149. Author information Authors and Affiliations Corresponding author Rights and permissions Copyright information © 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG About this chapter Cite this chapter Shazly, S., Laughlin-Tommaso, S.K. (2020). Chronic Pelvic Pain. In: Gynecology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41128-2_6 Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41128-2_6 Published: Publisher Name: Springer, Cham Print ISBN: 978-3-030-41127-5 Online ISBN: 978-3-030-41128-2 eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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Condition tags

endometriosischronic_pelvic_pain

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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.

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