RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Vulvodynia (VVD) is a debilitating chronic vulvar pain significantly affecting patients' quality of life. Interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS) is a chronic and complex illness characterized by an unpleasant sensation related to the filling of the bladder and it strongly impacts patients' lives. The exact mechanisms of the two syndromes remain unknown, but there is an overlap between suspected pathophysiologies. OBJECTIVE: To present an overview of the current research on the association between VVD and IC/BPS. SEARCH STRATEGY: A systematic search of three electronic databases was conducted. Studies examining the correlation between VVD and IC/BPS with male and female patients aged over 18 years were included. SELECTION CRITERIA: Studies assessing the coexistence of VVD and IC/BPS were included. Reviews, letters to the editor, conference abstracts, book chapters, guidelines, Cochrane reviews, and expert opinions were excluded. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two reviewers screened the studies for eligibility. Eligible studies were screened for quality. MAIN RESULTS: A total of 13 studies were included in the final review. Among them, 11 presented a positive association between the two syndromes. The studies highlighted that VVD and IC/BPS share common comorbidities and possibly etiopathogenic pathways. CONCLUSION: VVD and IC/BPS are both complex and multifactorial syndromes. This review highlights an association between them, but additional studies on the topic should be conducted for a more precise conclusion.
RESUMO
Background and Objectives: A consensus regarding the optimal sonographic technique for measuring vaginal wall thickness (VWT) is still absent in the literature. This study aims to validate a new method for measuring VWT using a biplanar transvaginal ultrasound probe and assess both its intra-operator and inter-operator reproducibility. Material and Methods: This prospective study included patients with genitourinary syndrome of menopause-related symptoms. Women were scanned using a BK Medical Flex Focus 400 with the 65 × 5.5 mm linear longitudinal transducer of an endovaginal biplanar probe (BK Medical probe 8848, BK Ultrasound, Peabody, MA, USA). Vaginal wall thickness (VWT) measurements were acquired from the anterior and posterior vaginal wall at three levels. Results: An inter-observer analysis revealed good consistency between operators at every anatomical site, and the intra-class coefficient ranged from 0.931 to 0.987, indicating high reliability. An intra-observer analysis demonstrated robust consistency in vaginal wall thickness measurements, with an intra-class coefficient exceeding 0.9 for all anatomical sites. Conclusions: The measurement of vaginal wall thickness performed by transvaginal biplanar ultrasound was easy and demonstrated good intra- and inter-operator reliability.