[Update on the diagnosis and treatment of vulvodynia]

Vulvodynia is a complex and multifactorial clinical condition. It is defined as chronic vulvar discomfort characterized by burning, stinging or irritation. Its diagnostic difficulty and treatment is known.

To review the medical literature of the last 10 years from a critical point of view.

A search was made in Medline/Pubmed and the Cochrane Library using the terms vulvodynia and vestibulodynia to which etiology, epidemiology, diagnosis, neurophysiological test and treatment or management, were added.

In spite of the advances achieved in all of the aspects of vulvodynia, the methodology used at present in many cases does not have the desirable statistical soundness: there are few control or placebo-controlled groups and double-blind studies. Uniformity is lacking in the scales, indexes and questionnaires for the correct evaluation of pain before and after the treatment and debatable diagnostic criteria are use. The limited use of neurophysiological diagnostic resources that validate the clinical findings has been observed in the studies analyzed. In most of the works, the medical treatments have been shown to be ineffective. Physiotherapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy seem to be promising therapeutic tools. Surgery (vestibulectomy) stands out by its demonstrated efficacy in the publications studied.

A multidisciplinary approach is always necessary. Topical medical, psychological and physical therapy treatments may have sum effects and become an alternative to surgery. New pathways of research and more regulated studies are required.