Clinical usefulness of quantitative thermal sensory testing in the diagnosis and surgical treatment of women with pudendal neuropathy.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study, conducted on women with pudendal neuropathy, was to evaluate the usefulness of quantitative thermal sensory testing (QTST) in the diagnosis, surgical management, and prognosis of the disease. METHODS: The study was conducted on 90 women with pudendal neuropathy. QTST in pudendal nerve sensory innervation territory was realized before and more than 24 months after operative pudendoscopy on most patients. Cold and warm thresholds were evaluated together with a search for qualitative anomalies. The diagnostic value of QTST was assessed by comparing baseline data with normative values previously derived from 41 presumably healthy women. The effect of operative pudendoscopy on thermal sensitivity was tested by comparing preoperative and postoperative measurements. Assessment of the long-term prognostic value of QTST was based on "surgical success" defined as a VAS pain level less than 4 at least 2 years after surgery. RESULTS: The existence of qualitative anomalies, like anesthesia, allodynia, dysesthesia, radiation, and dyslocalization, was clearly indicative of pudendal neuropathy. The presence of after sensation and "out of limit" values of skin temperature and cold detection threshold were also helpful for diagnosing the disease. Surgery reduced qualitative anomalies but had no positive effect on QTST thresholds. QTST measurements had no real prognostic value but other factors like constipation and abnormal perineal descent were predictive of surgical success. CONCLUSION: For women with pudendal neuropathy, QTST can be considered a useful, non-invasive tool in the diagnosis, and management of the disease, but it cannot predict satisfactorily long-term outcome of operative pudendoscopy.

Perineural dextrose injections in the treatment of lower urinary tract symptoms and dyspareunia induced by obturator neuralgia.

Obturator neuralgia is commonly diagnosed and treated in orthopedics. It produces groin pain, sensory alteration in the medial thigh (dysesthesia, sensory loss, or pain), adductor muscle weakness and pain/restriction of hip movements. Basically, the clinical diagnosis of obturator neuralgia is made by producing pain during internal rotation of the hip against resistance ("obturator sign") or by extension and lateral leg movements. We postulate obturator neuralgia can induce lower urinary tract symptoms and dyspareunia and be diagnosed by using three clinical signs characterizing neuralgia everywhere on the body: painful nerve trunk (at the entrance of the obturator canal; by vaginal or rectal examination), abnormal sensibility and painful skin rolling test in its cutaneous innervation territory (inferomedial skin of the thigh). To support our assumptions, three female patients with longstanding lower urinary tract symptoms and/or dyspareunia and a clinical examination suggestive of obturator neuralgia (three clinical signs positive) were treated by perineural injections of dextrose 5% in sterile water (D5W). The three patients were clinically improved or cured after the treatment with two of them being cured after a single injection. While waiting for confirmation of these findings by randomized controlled trials, we suggest that obturator neuralgia should be sought in every patient with lower urinary tract symptoms and/or dyspareunia and that obturator perineural D5W injections be tried to relieve these patients.

Endoscopic transperineal pudendal nerve decompression: operative pudendoscopy.

BACKGROUND: Pudendal nerve entrapment can produce a pudendal syndrome comprising perineodynia together with urinary, sexual, and anorectal symptoms. This syndrome can be treated surgically by the transperineal approach. By using an endoscope during the procedure ("operative pudendoscopy"), the surgeon has close-up visual control of each decompression steps, demonstrates the different levels of entrapment, and cuts the sacrospinous ligament under visual control. The aim of this study was to describe the technical details of this new technique and its outcome in the treatment of the pudendal syndrome. METHODS: A series of 113 patients with severe pudendal syndrome underwent operative pudendoscopy. A complete history, pain visual analog scale (VAS) for perineodynia, and four scores evaluating the main symptoms (ICIQ-SF, NHI-CPSI, St Mark's, and Wexner) were obtained before and at least 24 months after surgery. The three clinical signs of pudendal syndrome (abnormal pinprick sensitivity, painful skin rolling test, and painful pudendal nerve) and perineal descent were analyzed before and after surgery in 91 patients. RESULTS: The mean operating time per side was 50.3 ± 15.2 min and the average hospital stay was 2.1 ± 0.4 days. Perineodynia VAS dropped from 7.2 ± 1.4 to 4.5 ± 2.9 after surgery (p < 0.0001) and the symptoms scores significantly improved. Frequency of sexual arousal syndrome, dyspareunia, and cystalgia was also significantly reduced. Pathological perineal descent (≥ 1.5 cm measured with a Perineocaliper®) observed in 13 patients was reduced from 1.81 to 0.77 cm after surgery (p < 0.0001). The only significant complication was severe hemorrhage in one patient induced by an inferior gluteal vessel laceration and successfully treated by arterial embolization. CONCLUSIONS: A complete pudendal nerve decompression, from the distal branches to the sacral foramina, safely performed under visual control by using operative pudendoscopy markedly improves clinical signs and symptoms of the pudendal syndrome.

Normative values of skin temperature and thermal sensory thresholds in the pudendal nerve territory.

AIMS: The aim of this study was to define normative values of skin temperature and thermal sensory threshold in the pudendal nerve territory. METHODS: Warm and cold detection thresholds (using the method of limits) and skin temperature were measured in a group of 41 presumably healthy female volunteers aged 41 years (range: 23-66 years) at left thenar eminence and in the pudendal nerve territory. Outlying data were discarded and 95% normative values were derived assuming Normal distributions. RESULTS: Room temperature averaged 24.3 ± 1.1°. Skin temperature and cold detection threshold value were greater anteriorly (clitoris, labia) than posteriorly (para-anal). Para-anal skin temperature and cold detection threshold value were also significantly lower on the right side than on the left side. The warm detection threshold was significantly lower at the clitoris level than at left and right labia. A significant positive effect of skin temperature on cold and warm detection thresholds values was noted especially at thenar and para-anal levels. Age had no effect on skin temperature but warm detection thresholds at clitoris were higher in older subjects. The only qualitative abnormalities observed were after-sensation (4.9%) and habituation (2.8%). Allodynia, dysesthesia, radiation, and dyslocalization were not observed. Two-sided normative values were determined for skin temperature, vertical, and horizontal differences, while one-sided values were derived for cold and warm detection thresholds as well as for their difference. CONCLUSIONS: Normative values for perineal skin temperature and thermal detection thresholds can be used as an alternative non-invasive way to evaluate pudendal neuropathy.

Interest of retro-anal levator plate myorrhaphy in selected cases of descending perineum syndrome with positive anti-sagging test.

BACKGROUND: Levator plate sagging (LPS), usually called descending perineum syndrome, is one of the main defects encountered in perineology. This defect is classically associated with colo-proctologic functional troubles (dyschesia and anal incontinence) but can also induce perineodynia, gynaecological and lower urinary tract symptoms. METHODS: A retrospective case series of nine female patients (mean age: 44.3) underwent an isolated retro-anal levator plate myorrhaphy (RLPM) to treat symptomatic LPS confirmed by rectal examination and/or Perineocaliper. An anti-sagging test (support of the posterior perineum) must significantly improve the symptoms that were resistant to conservative treatment. The effect of the procedure on the symptoms of the 3 axes of the perineum (urological, colo-proctologic and gynecological) and on perineodynia was evaluated during a follow up consultation more than 9 months after surgery. The effect of RLPM on the position of the anal margin and on the levator plate angle was studied using rectal examination, Perineocaliper(R) and retro-anal ultrasound. RESULTS: Before surgery, anti-sagging tests were positive for dyschesia, urinary urgency and pain. After a mean follow-up of 16.1 months, RLPM resolved or improved 2/2 cases of stress urinary incontinence, 3/5 of urinary urgency, 3/4 of dysuria, 3/3 of anal incontinence, 7/8 of dyschesia, 3/4 of cystocele, 4/5 of rectocele, 5/8 of dyspareunia and 6/7 of perineodynia. Rectal examination showed a complete suppression of sagging in 4 patients and an improvement in the 5 others. The mean reduction of perineal descent was 1.08 cm (extremes: 0-1.5). Using retro-anal ultrasound of the levator plate, the mean reduction of sagging was 12.67 degrees (extremes: 1 - 21). CONCLUSION: Anti-sagging tests can be used before surgery to simulate the effect of RLPM. This surgical procedure seems to improve stress urinary incontinence, frequency, nocturia, urgency, dysuria, anal incontinence, dyschesia, dyspareunia, perineodynia, cystocele and rectocele. These results must be confirmed by a larger case series.

Pudendal nerve decompression in perineology: a case series.

BACKGROUND: Perineodynia (vulvodynia, perineal pain, proctalgia), anal and urinary incontinence are the main symptoms of the pudendal canal syndrome (PCS) or entrapment of the pudendal nerve. The first aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of bilateral pudendal nerve decompression (PND) on the symptoms of the PCS, on three clinical signs (abnormal sensibility, painful Alcock's canal, painful "skin rolling test") and on two neurophysiological tests: electromyography (EMG) and pudendal nerve terminal motor latencies (PNTML). The second aim was to study the clinical value of the aforementioned clinical signs in the diagnosis of PCS. METHODS: In this retrospective analysis, the studied sample comprised 74 female patients who underwent a bilateral PND between 1995 and 2002. To accomplish the first aim, the patients sample was compared before and at least one year after surgery by means of descriptive statistics and hypothesis testing. The second aim was achieved by means of a statistical comparison between the patient's group before the operation and a control group of 82 women without any of the following signs: prolapse, anal incontinence, perineodynia, dyschesia and history of pelvi-perineal surgery. RESULTS: When bilateral PND was the only procedure done to treat the symptoms, the cure rates of perineodynia, anal incontinence and urinary incontinence were 8/14, 4/5 and 3/5, respectively. The frequency of the three clinical signs was significantly reduced. There was a significant reduction of anal and perineal PNTML and a significant increase of anal richness on EMG. The Odd Ratio of the three clinical signs in the diagnosis of PCS was 16,97 (95% CI = 4,68 - 61,51). CONCLUSION: This study suggests that bilateral PND can treat perineodynia, anal and urinary incontinence. The three clinical signs of PCS seem to be efficient to suspect this diagnosis. There is a need for further studies to confirm these preliminary results.