ArticleJournal of the Chinese Medical Association : JCMA2026
Entheseal pain of levator ani muscle: A novel etiology in chronic pelvic pain and lower urinary tract symptoms-A urodynamic perspective.
Article in Journal of the Chinese Medical Association : JCMA, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAlthough evidence suggests that levator ani muscle (LAM) entheseal pain is a novel etiology of chronic pelvic pain (CPP), its association with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) remains underexplored. This study examined the urodynamic manifestations of LUTS in patients with LAM entheseal pain.
methodsIn this retrospective cohort, women with chronic pelvic pain (CPP) and LUTS underwent standardized palpation and were divided into three groups: an isolated LAM muscular pain, an isolated LAM entheseal pain, and a combined muscle and entheseal pain group. Between-group differences in symptom prevalence and urodynamic parameters were analyzed.
resultsA total of 307 female patients were enrolled. Enthesis-related pain groups exhibited significantly higher prevalences of urinary symptoms, including urinary frequency (muscle pain, n = 81 vs entheseal pain, n = 32 vs combined pain, n = 194: 82.7% vs 87.5% vs 85.1%, p = 0.011), residual urinary sensation (46.9% vs 65.6% vs 63.4%, p < 0.001), and painful bladder symptoms (45.7% vs 59.4% vs 61.9%, p < 0.001). Additionally, these groups demonstrated significantly higher rates of pain-related comorbidities, including bearing-down sensation (33.3% vs 37.5% vs 49.0%, p < 0.001), dysmenorrhea (22.2% vs 25.0% vs 35.1%, p < 0.001), irritable bowel syndrome (29.6% vs 32.4% vs 44.3%, p < 0.001), and systemic myofascial pain (28.4% vs 40.6% vs 52.6%, p < 0.001). However, direct comparison between isolated muscular and entheseal pain groups revealed no significant differences in LUTS or pain comorbidities, whereas combined pain group demonstrated the highest symptom prevalence. Notably, no significant intergroup differences were observed in urodynamic parameters.
conclusionLAM entheseal pain represents a distinct, clinically palpable entity in CPP. Its urodynamic similarity to myofascial pain suggests that LUTS reflect a shared final pathway of central sensitization rather than peripheral structural dysfunction. Moreover, its unique association with morning stiffness supports a divergent pathophysiology.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.