Pelvic congestion syndrome: Updated literature review

Abstract

Pelvic congestion syndrome (PCS) is a common, but little-known, cause of chronic pelvic pain in premenopausal women. Although its etiology is not entirely clear, valvular incompetence is generally accepted as the cause of primary PCS, while compressive syndromes lead to secondary PCS. The diagnosis of this syndrome is made after excluding other causes of chronic pelvic pain, and is based on a combination of characteristic clinical symptoms (chronic pain, continuous or dull, dyspareunia, and dysmenorrhea) and documentation of dilation or incompetence of pelvic veins by imaging tests. Endovascular therapy (sclerotherapy, embolization or stenting) of incompetent and reflux veins or stenotic veins, is today the standard of treatment. The objective of this work is to carry out an updated revision of the literature with the purpose of helping to improve the knowledge of this pathology.