Interstitial Cystitis: Elucidation of the Psychophysiologic and Autonomic Characteristics (ICEPAC) Study
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2014-12-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome (IC/PBS) causes severe bladder pain and
extensive disability in a large group of women int he prime of their productive lives.
Extensive study of the bladder itself has uncovered many abnormalities, but the investigators
do not know if these are the cause or result of the disorder. None of these has led to any
real long-term progress in treatment, so far. The investigators have found that other
autonomic disorders often occur in both the patients themselves and in the family members of
patients with IC/PBS. The investigators therefore propose to determine whether the main
abnormality in IC/PBS actually lies in the autonomic nervous system, rather than the bladder.
The investigators will do this through careful measurements of autonomic function and
sensation in patients who have IC/PBS, both at rest, and under controlled psychological
stress. The investigators will compare their measurements to patients with myofascial pelvic
pain, to know which abnormalities are truly linked to IC/PBS, and which simply reflect the
presence of pelvic pain.