Pelvic organ cross-talk: A new paradigm for endometriosis-related pelvic pain?

Abstract

Endometriosis patients often complain about pelvic and abdominal pain with varying bowel and bladder symptoms unrelated to the location and extent of the disease. The pathophysiology can be multifactorial, but one possibility is that pelvic organ cross-talk may play a role. The aim of this review was to evaluate the scientific support for this hypothesis. A search was performed in PubMed to identify relevant experimental and clinical studies. Data achieved in animal models and clinical evidence suggest that endometriosis-related pain may implicate interactions between pelvic structures like the urinary tract, the bowel and the vagina, mediated by the autonomous nervous system. Such pelvic organ cross-talk with involvement of nerve fibre outgrowth into endometriosis lesions, peripheral sensitisation and convergence of afferent nerve fibres could be an explanation for the varying pain problems in endometriosis, but the precise mechanisms are still poorly understood. Some patients with chronic pelvic pain, including those with endometriosis, also seem to have a more general somatic, musculoskeletal hyperalgesia, indicating a potential viscero-somatic convergence. This might be due to continuous nociceptive input to the brain, resulting in changes in brain structures and finally leading to central sensitisation. Thus, pelvic organ cross-talk seems to represent a new paradigm for endometriosis-related pain with novel possibilities for the development of therapeutic strategies.