Pelvic pain.

It is a common assumption among women that lower abdominal discomfort, either central or lateral in distribution, is usually referred from the organs of reproduction and may properly be considered to be "pelvic pain." A man, with different anatomy, is unlikely to make this assumption and equates his "pelvic organs" with the reg'ion of the perineum. Thus pelvic pain is essentially a gynaecological symptom. It may be acute, chronic, recurrent, or cyclic and is sometimes associated with low sacral backache. The symptom is distressingly common and so often unrelated to any demonstrable pelvic lesion as to make it comparatively unrewarding in gynaecological diagnosis. This is hardly surprising when one considers how much is still unknown about the innervation of the female pelvic organs and the various factors that mod'ify pain sensitivity for each individual.