Pelvic pain – colloquially called abdominal pain – (synonyms: pelvic pain; pelvic pain; ICD-10-GM R10.2: pelvic and perineal pain) is pain located in the pelvic cavity (Latin pelvis, pelvis).
The following are essentially causes of somatic (“organic”) pelvic pain (see “Differential diagnoses”). Bony pelvic pain and “perineal pain” are not considered. For information on “perineal pain,” see “Anorectal Pain.”
A distinction can be made between acute and chronic pelvic pain.
Psychogenic pelvic pain will be mentioned only briefly below.
Pelvipathy (pelvipathia; chronic pelvic pain (CPP), hysteralgia) in women must be distinguished from somatic (physical) pelvic pain. This is chronic (= lasting longer than six months) lower abdominal pain. The pain is cramp-like and occurs independently of sexual intercourse and menstrual cycle. In addition, there is pelvipathia vegetativa (synonyms: parametropathia spastica, pelvic congestion). In this case there is a vegetative dystonia (disturbance of the conduction of impulses in the nervous system), which manifests itself in the pelvis in the case of vegetative lability (susceptibility to stress).
Furthermore, chronic pelvic pain in men (synonyms: anogenital symptom complex, chronic abacterial prostatitis, chronic pelvic pain syndrome, chronic pelvic pain syndrome, prostatodynia, vegetative urogenital syndrome) must be distinguished from somatic pelvic pain. The cause of the complaints is a vegetative dysregulation triggered by stress.
Pelvic pain can be a symptom of many diseases (see “Differential diagnoses”).
Gender ratio: Women are more frequently affected by acute pelvic pain than men.
Course and prognosis: The course and prognosis depend on the cause of the disease. Medical evaluation is required in all cases.
