I wanted to start this thread to go over the differences between these two pelvic pain syndromes.
The superior hypogastric plexus is a collection of nerves located in the retroperitoneal space at the bifurcation of the aorta and lies directly in front of the L5/S1 intervertebral disc. It contains afferent and efferent fibers from the SNS, and to a lesser extent carries parasympathetic information to the structures of the pelvis as well. Overall, it provides innervation to most, if not all, structures of the pelvic region:
Bladder
Urethra
Vagina
Vulva
Prostate
Uterus
Ureter
Pelvic Floor (Perineum)
Penis
Ovaries
Penis
Testicles
Descending Colon and Rectum
The pudendal is the main nerve of the perineum. It carries sensation from the external genitalia of both sexes and the skin around the anus and perineum, as well the motor supply to various pelvic muscles. Anyway I am sure we are all familiar with the pudendal nerve by now. The symptoms can reside in the rectum, anus, urethra, perineum, and genital area. In women this includes the clitoris, mons pubis, vulva, lower 1/3 of the vagina, and labia. In men this includes the penis and scrotum.
Anyways, I wanted to start a thread and keep this topic open to people who tried the pudendal blocks, and compare this to people that tried hypogastric blocks.
Also, if the hypogastric nerve can incur pain in all the locations at the top can it not in a sense also have a lot of the classical PNE symtoms too?
I was just wondering about the hypogastric plexus for too long and somehow I have been always thinking there is something wrong with mine. However, I have all classical PNE symtoms so no Pain doc wants to take this hypogastric thing seriously. The reasons why I say this is 1) I have absolutely NO urge to urinate. My sensory nerve is almost not working. I don't know when my bladder is full. 2) I have mild narrowing by L5-S1 3) I have a minor compression by the left common illiac artery by the right common illiac vein (which is right by the bifurcation of the aorta). As well as I have had digestion issues my whole life. What sits directly in front of the plexus, colon/intestines. I just have too much pointing to the plexus but I do have classical pne symptoms though.
Does anyone have any classic symptoms of hypogastric, have had relief from hypogastric blocks orrrrr also have any comments to add about the added above? If not, I guess I just wasted 10 mins just venting
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
-Dom