Douleurs pelviennes

Acute or chronic pelvic pain is a common and frequent disorder which requires medical consultation. It is defined by a pain in a lower part of the abdomen. Distinguishing the acute type from the chronic one may could be difficult. Usually, the acute pelvic pain requires an emergency consultation, while the chronic pelvic pain is estimated to account for 10% of all referrals to gynaecologists. The aetiology is gynaecologic in less than 50% of the cases. For acute pelvic pains, appendicitis and undetermined disorders are the most frequent diseases and ectopic pregnancy and pelvic inflammatory disease are the main organic gynaecologic aetiologies. Therefore, awareness of the epidemiology, and use of human chorionic gonadotrophin dosage in emergency, may help to define a diagnostic strategy; among this strategy, laparoscopy should be the ultimate solution. In chronic pelvic pain, two approaches could be used: treating chronic pelvic pain for itself as a diagnostic or treating diseases or disorders that might be a cause of or a contribution to chronic pelvic pain. In all these cases laparoscopy should be selectively utilized.