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In order to fully evaluate the woman with chronic pelvic pain, the clinician must consider the possibility of abdominal wall pain. A useful technique in both diagnosis and treatment may be trigger point injections.

The approach to the patient with CPP with a history of PID remains a diagnostic challenge even for the experienced clinician. From the initial diagnosis of presumed PID to managing the pain that may result, using an approach that looks at all factors, not just antecedent PID, allows the practicing physician to avoid becoming too narrowly focused in his or her approach. A clinical starting point would assume all possibilities for pelvic pain and evaluate for each. Given the history of one or more episodes of PID, especially if documented with a prior laparoscopy, earlier investigation for adhesions could be justified in selected patients. If the pelvic examination further suggests a pelvic source, a laparoscopy performed early rather than late in the work-up would seem appropriate. The key to management of the patients who have CPP following PID is to use any and all available diagnostic and therapeutic modalities to identify the source(s) before assuming that the patient suffers only from the known sequelae of PID.

The presence of dyspareunia as a specific complaint should be a routine part of the gynecologic history. Even if the patient does not present with this as a chief complaint, the regular inclusion of the question of whether the patient has pain during intercourse can address emotional and physical concerns the patient may leave unspoken unless given the opportunity. Once identified, the symptoms should be dealt with by the clinician potentially as both an organic and as a sexual problem. This will allow the clinician to keep in mind that secondary sexual dysfunction can arise from initially simple organic problems. Patients should be advised at the onset that the process is ongoing and that therapy may be more than just one single treatment approach. Dyspareunia that occurs after a period of good sexual adjustment may be more amenable to an office-based counseling and educational approach, assuming that the patient and her partner are comfortable and cooperative in approaching the problem. Dyspareunia of long standing or in a more complicated relationship may require skills possessed by more highly trained professionals.

Figure 2 outlines the management protocol used at the University of Tennessee. Expectant management either in the presence or absence of tubal abortion offers an alternative to surgical management of ectopic pregnancy. With proper patient selection and follow-up, surgery can be avoided in a significant number of patients who once would have required operative intervention.