Diagnosis of interstitial cystitis June 2007.

There is current controversy over the optimal name for the condition classically known as interstitial cystitis (IC). The term IC reflects the clinical interpretation of the symptom of pain centred in the region of the bladder and implies local inflammation, which is often not demonstrable. In 2002, the International Continence Society defined painful bladder syndrome (PBS) as the complaint of suprapubic pain related to bladder filling, accompanied by other symptoms such as increased daytime and nighttime frequency, in the absence of proven urinary infection or other obvious pathology. Subsequent to this definition, some have used the term IC to reflect patients who meet the classic National Institutes of Health (NIH) criteria and PBS to reflect the group that may have identical symptoms but have not undergone formal hydrodistension or do not meet all of the NIH criteria. It is recognized that the NIH criteria were designed to delineate a homogeneous population for research trials and are overly restrictive for use in routine clinical practice. More recently, because of similarities with IC/PBS and other chronic pain syndromes, there has been a move to change terminology to reflect widely encompassing pain taxonomies. This is reflected in the term bladder pain syndrome. Thus at the moment, all 3 existing English terminologies (IC, PBS or bladder pain syndrome) are used worldwide. The corresponding French terminology is Cystite Interstitielle, Cystalgie a Urine Claire or Cystalgie Abacterienne. Hopefully, the next decade will see widespread adoption of a single name and definition. History, frequency volume chart and physical examination