Recent advances in understanding and managing chronic pelvic pain in women with special consideration to endometriosis

Elizabeth Ball; Khalid S Khan

doi:10.12688/f1000research.20750.1

Recent advances in understanding and managing chronic pelvic pain in women with special consideration to endometriosis

F1000Res. 2020 Feb 4:9:F1000 Faculty Rev-83. doi: 10.12688/f1000research.20750.1. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Elizabeth Ball^{1

2

3}, Khalid S Khan⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, The Royal London Hospital, Barts Health NHS Trust, London, UK.
² Women's Health Research Unit, Yvonne Carter Building, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.
³ Centre for Maternal & Child Health Research, School of Health Sciences, City University of London, London, UK.
⁴ Department of Public Health, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.

Abstract

Chronic pelvic pain (CPP) in women is defined variably, but for clinical use it is cyclical or non-cyclical pain of at least 3-6 months' duration. It has major impacts on individuals and society. There are both structural and idiopathic causes. Whereas CPP is not curable in many cases, it is treatable. The most promising approach is multidisciplinary patient-centered care including cause-directed therapy, lifestyle changes, talking therapies, meditation, acupuncture, and physiotherapy (this is not a complete list). One of the most common structural causes for CPP is endometriosis. This review investigates current scientific concepts and recent innovations in this field as well as for CPP in general.

Keywords: chronic pelvic pain in women; endometriosis; idiopathic chronic pelvic pain.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Chronic Pain / therapy*
Endometriosis / therapy*
Female
Humans
Pelvic Pain / therapy*

Grants and funding

The author(s) declared that no grants were involved in supporting this work.