Clinical Management of Chronic Pelvic Pain in Endometriosis Unresponsive to Conventional Therapy

Background: Although several treatments are currently available for chronic pelvic pain, 30–60% of patients do not respond to them. Therefore, these therapeutic options require a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying endometriosis-induced pain. This study focuses on pain management after failure of conventional therapy. Methods: We reviewed clinical data from 46 patients with endometriosis and chronic pelvic pain unresponsive to conventional therapies at Puerta de Hierro University Hospital Madrid, Spain from 2018 to 2021. Demographic data, clinical and exploratory findings, treatment received, and outcomes were collected. Results: Median age was 41.5 years, and median pain intensity was VAS: 7.8/10. Nociceptive pain and neuropathic pain were identified in 98% and 70% of patients, respectively. The most common symptom was abdominal pain (78.2%) followed by pain with sexual intercourse (65.2%), rectal pain (52.1%), and urologic pain (36.9%). A total of 43% of patients responded to treatment with neuromodulators. Combined therapies for myofascial pain syndrome, as well as treatment of visceral pain with inferior or superior hypogastric plexus blocks, proved to be very beneficial. S3 pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) plus inferior hypogastric plexus block or botulinum toxin enabled us to prolong response time by more than 3.5 months. Conclusion: Treatment of the unresponsive patient should be interdisciplinary. Depending on the history and exploratory findings, therapy should preferably be combined with neuromodulators, myofascial pain therapies, and S3 PRF plus inferior hypogastric plexus blockade.

Relationship between the endopelvic fasciae and the inferior hypogastric plexus Activity Log

The Inferior Hypogastric Plexus (PHI) is a difficult plexus to define and dissect, hence the ease with which it can be injured both in anatomical and surgical research. Defining its relationships, with respect to the endopelvic fascia (FEP), including its formation and branches, (Baader B., et al., 2003, p. 129) would facilitate their dissection. This anatomical investigation aims to standardize different portions that require a different approach to preserve their integrity. Cadaveric material belonging to the Third Chair of Anatomy of the School of Medicine, Buenos Aires University was used. One (n=1) formolized male adult organ block and seventeen (n=17) hemipelvis were dissected: five (n=5) adult male hemipelvis formolized, nine (n=9) fetal hemipelvis formolized (7 male and 2 female), between 18 and 36 weeks of gestational age calculated by femoral length, and three (n=3) adult hemipelvis from fresh cadavers, two (n=2) female and one (n=1) male. Microdissection elements and magnifying glasses were used. We were able to distinguish three different sectors: the first, preplexual, located posterior and lateral to the FEP, where the sympathetic components (hypogastric nerves) and the parasympathetic (pelvic splanchnic nerves) have not yet converged to form the plexus. A second sector, plexual, with the plexus already fully formed, located in the thickness of the FEP. Finally, its terminal portion, already devoid of the FEP, formed by nerves that go to the perineal membrane accompanied by arterial and venous vessels. Each of these sectors requires a different approach in both anatomical and surgical dissection.

Identification and injury to the inferior hypogastric plexus in nerve-sparing radical hysterectomy

Waterjet dissection of the inferior hypogastric plexus (IHP) resulted in a more rapid return of normal urodynamics than blunt dissection (control group) in patients who received laparoscopic nerve-sparing radical hysterectomy (NSRH) in a randomized controlled study. However, the definite reasons for these results were unknown. This subgroup analysis compared the neural areas and impairment in the IHP uterine branches harvested during NSRH as an alternative to the IHP vesical branches between the waterjet and control groups. This study included samples from 30 eligible patients in each group of the trial NCT03020238. At least one specimen from each side of the IHP uterine branches was resected. The tissues were scanned, images were captured, and the neural component areas were calculated using the image segmentation method. Immunohistochemical staining was used to evaluate neural impairment. The control and waterjet groups had similar areas of whole tissues sent for evaluation. However, the control group had significantly fewer areas (median 272158 versus 200439 μm2, p = 0.044) and a lower percentage (median 4.9% versus 3.0%, p = 0.011) of neural tissues. No significant changes in immunohistochemical staining were found between the two groups. For patients with residual urine ≤100 and >100 ml at 14 days after NSRH (42 and 18 patients, respectively), there were significantly different percentages of neural tissues in the resected samples (p < 0.001). Hence, Due to the accurate identification of IHP during NSRH, the waterjet dissection technique achieved better urodynamic results.

Nerve-sparing radical hysterectomy: steps to standardize surgical technique

AimThe primary objective of this review was to study and analyze techniques of nerve-sparing radical hysterectomy so as to be able to characterize and elucidate intricate steps for the dissection of each component of the pelvic autonomic nerve plexuses during nerve-sparing radical hysterectomy.MethodsThis review was based on a five-step study design that included searching for relevant publications, selecting publications by applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, quality assessment of the identified studies, data extraction, and data synthesis.ResultsThere are numerous differences in the published literature concerning nerve-sparing radical hysterectomy including variations in techniques and surgical approaches. Techniques that claim to be nerve-sparing by staying above the dissection level of the hypogastric nerves do not highlight the pelvic splanchnic nerve, do not take into account the intra-operative patient position, nor the fact that the bladder branches leave the inferior hypogastric plexus in a ventrocranial direction, and the fact that inferior hypogastric plexus will be drawn cranially with the vaginal walls (if this is not recognized and isolated earlier) above the level of hypogastric nerves by drawing the uterus cranially during the operation.ConclusionsThe optimal nerve-sparing radical hysterectomy technique has to be radical (type C1) and must describe surgical steps to highlight all three components of the pelvic autonomic nervous system (hypogastric nerves, pelvic splanchnic nerves, and the bladder branches of the inferior hypogastric plexus). Recognizing the pelvic splanchnic nerves in the caudal parametrium and the isolation of the bladder branches of the inferior hypogastic plexus requires meticulous preparation of the caudal part of the ventral parametrium.