The relationship of interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome to vulvodynia

Many patients have interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome (IC/PBS), a condition of frequency, urgency, and pain affecting more than 1 million women in the United States. The vulva, not the urethra or bladder, may actually be the site of some of the reported pain in women with IC/PBS.

The purpose of this study was to identify the presence of vulvodynia in women diagnosed with IC/PBS.

A mailed survey was used to identify women with IC/PBS who also reported vulvar pain. The survey also identified related factors, such as menstrual/hormonal status, sexual function, abuse, and sequence of vulvar and bladder pain from adolescence to adulthood.

Four-hundred-sixteen women with a documented diagnosis of IC/PBS were mailed a survey. The response rate was 49.6%, with 197 completed surveys returned. Results include vulvar pain in adolescence reported by 10.9% of the respondents, while vulvar pain in adulthood was reported by 48.4% of the women. During the last year, 62.7% of the respondents reported vulvar pain. Ninety-five percent (95%) of the women reported having been sexually active in adulthood, but one-third were not currently sexually active; 27% reported fear of pain as the reason. An abuse history was reported by 28.5% of the women. Of the women who were postmenopausal (two-thirds of the group), 38% used hormone replacement therapy. Birth history showed no correlation to vulvar pain.

The chronic pain that IC/PBS patients feel may not be totally related to their bladder, but instead, may be vulvar pain. The incidence of abuse, past pelvic surgeries, pelvic floor dysfunction, and the chronologic sequence of co-morbid symptoms should be further assessed.