Pudendal Neuralgia: What Does a Gynaecologist Need to Know?

Pudendal neuralgia is a rare, chronic and debilitating pain syndrome affecting the sensitive areas of the body innervated by pudendal nerve. However, due to lack of awareness, most patients are frequently misdiagnosed or underdiagnosed by healthcare providers, including gynaecologists. Patients often go through multiple consultations with physicians of various disciplines, undergo multiple evaluations, and experience years of delay in diagnosis, resulting in significant delay in appropriate treatment. Consequently, those affected have a severely compromised quality of life and often develop mental health problems. They may suffer from depression or anxiety, accompanied by feelings of frustration, loneliness, and shame, and some may resort to suicide. Therefore, there is an urgent need for approaches towards growing awareness of the seriousness of this disease among gynaecologists.