Prevalence of Irritable Bowel Syndrome among Patients with Mild-Moderate and Severe Chronic Pelvic Pain
Kammala Tachawiwat MD*, Sopon Cheewadhanaraks MD*
Affiliation : * Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Songkhla, Thailand
Objective : To evaluate the prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in patients with mild-moderate and severe chronic
pelvic pain (CPP) compared with controls.
Material and Method: The cross-sectional study with age-matched controls was conducted in a university hospital. The
study group comprised of consecutive premenopausal women aged 17 to 51 years who had a chief complaint of CPP. Severity
of pain was evaluated using a visual analog scale. The diagnosis of IBS was based on the Rome II criteria.
Results : The prevalence of IBS in the mild-moderate CPP group was 21 in 104 (20.2%) patients, and in the severe CPP
group 25 in 131 (19.1%) patients. The patients in both mild-moderate CPP group (p-value = 0.028), and severe CPP group
(p-value = 0.036) had higher prevalence of IBS compared to the controls. The prevalence of IBS in the mild-moderate CPP
group was not different from that in the severe CPP group.
Conclusion : The prevalence of IBS in patients with mild-moderate CPP was similar to that in patients with severe CPP.
Keywords : Irritable bowel syndrome, Dysmenorrhea, Pelvic pain, Prevalence
