A superior hypogastric plexus block (also known as a hypogastric block) is an advanced, minimally invasive procedure used to treat pelvic and genital pain that has been so far unresponsive to oral medications and other conventional treatments. It can be used to diagnose and treat a painful condition. It uses numbing medications and some other drugs to be more long-lasting.
The superior hypogastric plexus is a part of the sympathetic nervous system that is capable of communicating pain to the central nervous system even when there is nothing damaged or inflamed.
By blocking this structure, one can relieve pain in the visceral (lining of the cavities) and pelvic regions from multiple causes:
- Chronic Pelvic Pain
- Cancer Pain
- Pelvic Inflammatory Disease
- Endometriosis- a gynecologic condition that results in scarring from abnormal uterine tissue in other areas of the pelvis and body
- Prostatitis
- Interstitial Cystitis
- Painful periods
- Painful sex
- Myofascial Pain Syndrome
- Vulvitis
- Cystitis-bladder inflammation
- Varicocele-enlarged vein in the scrotum
- Sympathetically-Mediated Pain
- Pelvic Congestion
- Pelvic Fibrosis
- Pelvis Radiation-induced Neuropathy
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome
- Pain due to adhesions resulting from multiple abdominal/GYN surgeries
