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Chronic pelvic pain: Pathogenesis and validated
assessment

Research Authors
Ali Yosef a,b
, Abdel Ghaffar Ahmed b
, Tarek Al-Hussaini b
, Mohamad S. Abdellah b
,
Georgine Cua a
, Mohamed A. Bedaiwy a,
*
Research Journal
Middle East Fertility Society Journal
Research Member
Research Publisher
Elsevier
Research Rank
1
Research Vol
21, 205–22
Research Website
NULL
Research Year
2016
Research_Pages
205–22
Research Abstract

Chronic pelvic pain (CPP) is a disabling disease that causes distress as the quality of life
of CPP patients is vastly diminished. In addition, CPP is a public health crisis and is a burden on
healthcare expenditure. In the United States, the annual costs for the diagnosis and treatment of
CPP are 2.8 billion US $. Moreover, to the indirect cost resulting from the absence from work
and CPP associated family problems add 550 million US $ more making the economic burden more
than 3.4 billion US $ (Mathias et al., 1996). Yet, the diagnosis of CPP is usually complicated as
there are no gold standard guidelines that clearly define this syndrome. Although we have a limited
understanding of its etiology, CPP has been found to be correlated with central sensitization, painful
bladder syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, endometriosis and adhesions. As such, in the evaluation
of patients, it is imperative to take a comprehensive patient history. Performing physical
examinations and ultrasound imaging is of particular value to elucidate the etiology of pain. As
CPP patients are at risk for psychological disorders, psychological assessments are critical to diagnose
associated psychological disorders and to take these into account in planning a holistic treatment
plan for patients. By such evaluation techniques, we can provide better diagnostic service and
patient care to people with CPP