ĬPPS has the potential to affect both men and women. Broadly speaking, CPP is often defined as noncyclical pain that has a duration of at least 6 months with the potential to manifest with lower physical performance and quality of life. A consistent consensus definition continues to be elusive and perhaps appropriately so, considering the widely different clinical phenotypes that comprise chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CPPS). This review explores the available evidence on efficacy of neuromodulatory modalities for CPPS and contextualizes the results with information about the type of neuromodulation, lead location and waveform, pain outcomes and assessment timepoints, and reported adverse effects.Ĭhronic pelvic pain (CPP) is a symptom that represents a complex group of heterogeneous pathologies in specific pelvic organs. The literature highlights a lack of randomized controlled trials for neuromodulatory therapies but suggests a growing role for such techniques in treating refractory chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CPPS). Our review found evidence suggestive of benefit for all modalities reviewed but the data was of overall low quality with numerous limitations. ResultsĬPP is a challenging entity to treat because of diagnostic inconsistencies and limited evidence for therapeutic modalities. We also attempted to search for, use, and cite primary manuscripts whenever possible. We tried to include as many recent manuscripts as possible (within the last 3 years) but also included papers older than 3 years if they were particularly relevant to our topic. We used the following combinations of keywords: neuromodulation, pelvic pain, chronic pain, chronic pelvic pain, pelvic pain treatment. We searched the following databases: PubMed, Medline, SciHub, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and Google Scholar. In 2022, we searched English-language studies on neuromodulation, pelvic pain, and chronic pain in a comprehensive search.

This narrative review focuses on updated information on neuromodulation for management of chronic pelvic pain.

The aim of this study was to review the available evidence on efficacy of neuromodulatory modalities including sacral neuromodulation, dorsal root ganglion stimulation, dorsal column neuromodulation, and pudendal nerve stimulation. Chronic pelvic pain (CPP) is a symptom that derives from a complex group of heterogeneous pathologies of the pelvic organs.

Spinal cord stimulation dorsal column