Bladder Pain Syndrome/Interstitial Cystitis: A Large but Heterogeneous Field in Functional Urology

Abstract

Bladder pain syndrome/interstitial cystitis (BPS/IC) is a distressing, chronic bladder disorder comprising symptoms of pain, pressure or discomfort perceived to be related to the bladder which is diagnosed primarily in women and of unknown aetiology, the diagnosis to be set after exclusion of many possible different confusable diseases. This debilitating condition was first identified in the nineteenth century, but it was not until 100 years later that an official definition, constructed by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), became accepted. However, this definition has been debated because around 60 % of patients who were clinically diagnosed with interstitial cystitis (IC) were excluded when applying the NIDDK criteria. A further fundamental problem is that treatment requirements differ importantly between BPS/IC phenotypes. So far, the majority of available studies did not take important distinctions into account, limiting the utility of clinical research in BPS.