Pelvic pain: lessons from anatomy and physiology.
Pelvic pain is often a difficult differential diagnosis in the emergency department. For physiologic reasons, pain in the pelvis is difficult to localize to a specific organ, and pelvic peritonitis is hard to recognize. On the other hand, differences in types of pain can be very useful in arriving at a correct diagnosis. The clinician must learn to recognize superficial and deep somatic pain, and differentiate between various types of visceral pain which originate from inflammation, ischemia, or colic. A review of the anatomy and physiology of pelvic pain helps identify some of the problems as well as potential aids in approaching the patient with pelvic pain.
Department of Surgery, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver 80262.
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Abbott
D000328:Adult; D001064:Appendicitis / Q000503:physiopathology; D002985:Clinical Protocols; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010048:Ovarian Cysts / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D010049:Ovarian Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D000292:Pelvic Inflammatory Disease / Q000503:physiopathology; D010388:Pelvis / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000294:innervation*; D010538:Peritonitis / Q000503:physiopathology; D014102:Torsion Abnormality