MN577 Discussion Board: Common causes of pelvic pain – Peer Response

Common causes of pelvic pain: When it comes to women’s health, pelvic pain is a serious condition that needs to be examined carefully and seriously. Pelvic pain is a common problem among women and in primary care office, and it is seen in approximately in one to two percentage of women (Dunphy et al., 2015). The nature and intensity of the pain may fluctuate, and its cause is often unclear. According to Dunphy et al., (2015) pelvic pain is characterized as acute, chronic or recurrent and reported in both pelvic or lower abdomen. Speer, Mushkbar, & Erbele (2016) define Chronic Pelvic Pain (CPP) as a persistent, noncyclic pain perceived to be in structures related to the pelvis, lasting more than six months, and does not show any signs of improvement with treatment. Due to the multiple possible causes to develop CPP, the diagnosis could be difficult and must be done with care. The cause of the pelvic pain might stem from genitourinary, gastrointestinal, musculoskeletal system disease or dysfunction which could cause sudden acute pain. (Dunphy et al., 2015). CPP is not a direct diagnosis, but rather a condition that is caused by numerous factors or another medical disease. The most prevalent and medically significant causes are cancers, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and general medical issues with the intestines and reproductive organs (Passavanti, Pota, & Sansone, 2017). Ovarian cancer, chlamydia, and ovarian cysts are all potential causes that could be extremely serious for the patient and could even be life threatening. On the other hand, it could be simple ache or pain caused by relatively benign reasons (Speer, Mushkbar, & Erbele, 2016). Chronic or recurrent pelvic pain is less urgent; and recurrent pain could be associated or not with menstruation (Dunphy et al., 2015). The origin of CPP could be related to benign or malignant neoplasms or characterized as psychogenic. (Dunphy et al., 2015).