The Role of Neuromodulation in Chronic Pelvic Pain: A Review Article

Chronic pelvic pain (CPP) is a complex, heterogeneous condition affecting both female and male patients with significant effects on quality of life. Chronic pelvic pain is a prevalent but often underdiagnosed condition due to the variation in patient presentation, a gap in communication among specialties, under-reporting of the syndrome, and lack of standardized diagnostic criteria with a subsequent delay in diagnosis. The mechanism of CPP is complex due to multifactorial etiologies of pain and its vast anatomy and innervation. Potential causes of pelvic pain include the nerves, muscles, bone, or organs of the reproductive, gastrointestinal, urological, musculoskeletal, vascular, neurological, and psychological systems.

The objective of this article is to review the anatomy of the pelvis, share current lead placement locations, and discuss the current evidence for neuromodulation in the management of chronic pelvic pain.

This is a narrative review of current literature on neuromodulation for chronic pelvic pain.

A database review.

A PubMed search was performed to gather literature on neuromodulation for chronic pelvic pain.

Traditionally, pelvic pain has been managed with conservative therapies such as physical therapy, pharmacological agents, trigger point injections, botulinum toxin injections, ganglion impar blocks, caudal epidural steroid injections, or superior and inferior hypogastric blocks, but with the evolution of the neuromodulation, there are new advances to incorporate this modality in the management of chronic pelvic pain.

This review article possesses limitations and includes published data, excluding case reports. For this reason, some applications of neuromodulation for chronic pelvic pain may be missed.

Neuromodulation may include spinal cord stimulation, dorsal root ganglion stimulation, and peripheral nerve stimulation. Specifically, neuromodulation utilizes electrical stimulation or pharmacological agents to modulate a nerve and alter pain signals. Currently used locations for lead placement include intracranial, spinal cord, dorsal root ganglion, sacral nerve roots, or at a peripheral nerve. As the field of pelvic pain continues to evolve, continued evidence for neuromodulatory interventions is needed.