Nociplastic Pain in Gynecology: Understanding This Painful Experience in Women

Abstract

The term “nociplastic pain” was introduced in 2017 by the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) to describe pain that results from impaired nociception despite no clear evidence of actual or potential tissue damage causing activation of peripheral nociceptors or evidence of disease or lesion of the somatosensory system causing the pain. It is a definition born from the need to recognize early the presence of central sensitization of the nervous system in patients with chronic pain; we can find ourselves in the co-presence of nociceptive or neuropathic pain and nociplastic pain. In gynecological pathology, nociplastic pain plays an important role characterizing some important pathologies that can be associated with chronic pelvic pain in women. It is essential to understand the mechanisms of pathogenesis and maintenance of nociplastic pain in order to undertake a multidisciplinary path for the treatment of these patients.