Review Article

Neurobiological Mechanisms of Pelvic Pain

Table 1

Most common causes of pelvic pain.

Gynaecologic
(i) Endometriosis/adenomyosis
(ii) Pelvic congestion syndrome
(iii) Chronic pelvic infections
(iv) Uterine myomas

Urologic
Painful bladder syndrome

Gastrointestinal
(i) Irritable bowel syndrome
(ii) Inflammatory bowel diseases

Musculoskeletal
(i) Fibromyalgia
(ii) Pelvic floor myalgia (piriformis syndrome)

Other
(i) Neuralgia of pudendal nerve
(ii) Neuralgia of iliohypogastric, ilioinguinal, or genitofemoral nerve
(iii) Depression
(iv) Visceral hyperalgesia
(v) Somatisation disorders
(vi) Psychosexual dysfunction (including previous or current sexual abuse)
(vii) Porphyria