title: Chronic pelvic pain: An imaging approach.
abstract: Chronic pelvic pain is defined as disabling pain of at least six months duration. Chronic pelvic pain has often multiple causative factors. Careful analysis of clinical history and detailed clinical examination must be carried out to guide further imaging investigations. Endometriosis is a common cause of chronic pelvic pain, although there is no correlation between the severity of lesions and pain intensity. Pelvic ultrasonography should be the first line imaging examination to search for causative conditions that include endometriosis, adenomyosis, pelvic varices and chronic infection. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is useful for making the positive diagnosis and assessing the spread of endometriosis. MRI is more accurate than ultrasonography for the diagnosis of tubo-ovarian abscess when an adnexal mass is identified. Duplex and color Doppler ultrasonography as well as MR angiography are the best imaging technique for the diagnosis of pelvic congestion syndrome. In patients with pudendal neuralgia, cross-sectional imaging help exclude nerve compression.
authors.affiliation: European hospital, medical imaging department, 6, rue Désirée-Clary, 13331 Marseille cedex 3, France. Electronic address: v.juhanduguet@hopital-europeen.fr.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Juhan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D059350:Chronic Pain / Q000209:etiology*; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging; D004715:Endometriosis / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D005831:Genital Diseases, Female / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D017699:Pelvic Pain / Q000209:etiology*
keywords: Chronic pelvic pain; Deep infiltrating endometriosis; Endometriosis; Pelvic congestion syndrome