Pelvic floor pain may impact subjective outcome measures in cystitis

Pelvic floor pain may impact subjective outcome measures in cystitis

Pelvic floor myofascial pain (PFMP) is not associated with bladder conditions among women with interstitial cystitis or bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS), according to a study recently published in Pain Physician.

Wan-Ru Yu, from Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation in Hualien, Taiwan, and colleagues explored the relationship between PFMP and treatment outcomes in 65 women (mean age, 57 years) with IC/BPS. Vaginal digital examination was performed at baseline; the visual analog scale was used to quantify PFMP severity.

The researchers found that patients with more severe PFMP had a significantly higher rate of dyspareunia, more comorbidities, a higher number of PFMP sites, and a higher O’Leary-Sant symptom score. There was no significant correlation between PFMP severity and bladder conditions, measured subjectively or objectively. There was a significant negative association observed between PFMP severity as measured on a visual analog scale and the Global Response Assessment score.

“PFMP might affect the subjective results of IC/BPS treatment but not the bladder condition,” the authors write. “Therefore, in the future treatment of patients with IC/BPS, digital vaginal examinations of pelvic floor muscles should be performed and focused more on the PFM-related conditions, and necessary PFM treatments, such as the vaginal pelvic floor muscle massage, should be scheduled.”

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