The Lesser of Three Evils? Untangling Somatic and Neurologic from Visceral Pain

Chronic pelvic pain (CPP) affects nearly 26% of the world’s population and often co-occurs with other debilitating conditions. These coexisting conditions, often termed chronic overlapping pain conditions, are more prevalent in women and include, but are not limited to, vulvodynia, endometriosis, painful bladder syndrome/interstitial cystitis, irritable bowel syndrome, temporomandibular disorders, myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, chronic tension-type and migraine headache, and chronic low back pain. Many of these lead to CPP and affect visceral structures; however, other frequent and important types of pain are somatic and neurologic in origin. When initially evaluating a patient suffering from CPP, it is imperative to perform a detailed and structured history and physical exam to promptly identify and initiate treatment for all the potential conditions leading to pain. This is also important since it will lead to creating an individualized team to treat the patient’s conditions and needs in an interdisciplinary fashion. This presentation will identify the best tools to collect, organize, and review a patient’s history and physical exam findings. Visceral pain will be described from an anatomical perspective, and we will review how to identify somatic, neurologic, and visceral causes of CPP.

Course summary
Available credit: 
  • 1.00 AANP
  • 1.00 ACCME (All Other)
  • 1.00 ACCME (MD/DO Only)
  • 1.00 ACPE Pharmacy
  • 1.00 ANCC
  • 1.00 APA
Course opens: 
11/01/2021
Course expires: 
11/01/2022
Rating: 
0

Available Credit

  • 1.00 AANP
  • 1.00 ACCME (All Other)
  • 1.00 ACCME (MD/DO Only)
  • 1.00 ACPE Pharmacy
  • 1.00 ANCC
  • 1.00 APA
Please login or register to take this course.

Required Hardware/software

A computer with an internet connection
Internet Browser: Internet Explorer 7.x or higher, Firefox 4.x or higher, Safari 2.x or higher, or any other W3C standards compliant browser
Other additional software may be required such as PowerPoint or Adobe Acrobat Reader.