Physical exam in the evaluation of bladder pain syndrome (BPS): A key component for differential diagnosis

To describe in more detail the usual clinical practice regarding physical examination (PE) in Bladder Pain Syndrome (BPS) and to evaluate if the performance of PE relates to changes in severity of symptoms and in Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL).

Epidemiological, observational, national and multicentric study that included 319 patients with BPS (79 of new diagnosis and 240 in follow-up). Demographic and clinical data were collected. The diagnostic study was performed according to the usual clinical practice, including as the case: PE and biopsy. The patients completed the "Bladder Pain/Interstitial Cystitis Symptom Score" (BPIC-SS) and "EuroQoL-5D-5L" (EQ-5D-5L) questionnaires. To describe the continuous variables, the mean, standard deviation (SD) and quartiles analyzed were used, and for categorical variables, number and percentage of patients by response category. The questionnaires' results were described according to the visual analog scale (VAS). Health status was evaluated in patients with myofascial pain.

PE was performed in 296 cases. 28.4% of the patients presented pelvic myofascial pain. The variation of the BPIC-SS score in the explored patients was 7.77 points, compared to 1.73 in the unexplored ones. The variations in EQ-5D-5L were 0.13 and 0.04 points, respectively.

Myofascial involvement was observed in 28.4% of the 296 cases of BPS who receiveda PE. It is important to implement a systematic, comprehensive method of PE at the national level in order to achieve a more precise characterization of BPS and a better evolution of the patient's symptoms and HRQoL.