Pelvic pain services

Services available

General gynaecology (Gynaecology Clinics)

The Women’s Gynaecology Clinics provide a range of medical and surgical options for the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of gynaecological conditions.

Additional details:

• Suitable for patients requiring assessment and diagnosis of pelvic pain.
• Surgical treatment pathways including diagnostic laparoscopy and surgery for complex endometriosis.
• Eligible patients referred for pelvic pain/dysmenorrhea/suspected endometriosis may also be invited to participate in the Early Intervention Pelvic Pain (CONNECT) Clinic or the Chronic Pelvic Pain Clinic.

For more information about referring to Gynaecology Clinics, visit General gynaecology.

Pelvic Pain Clinics

The Women’s offers both an Early Intervention Pelvic Pain (CONNECT) Clinic and a Chronic Pelvic Pain Clinic. Both clinics provide holistic, multidisciplinary support to help patients manage their symptoms and reduce the impact of pelvic pain on daily functioning.

Patients are cared for by a multidisciplinary team, which may include a medical pelvic pain specialist, clinical nurse consultant, physiotherapist, psychologist, dietitian, and sexologist. Care includes education about pain and pelvic pain conditions, assessment of contributors to pelvic pain, and holistic multidisciplinary support.

These programs work best when patients actively engage in care by attending regular appointments and education sessions and working collaboratively with the treating team over time.

Inclusion criteria (both clinics)

• Pain arising from the pelvis 
• Assessed by and engaged in gynaecological care at The Women’s Hospital
• Aged 18 years or older 
• Ability to attend multiple face-to-face appointments at the hospital 
• The Women’s is the patient’s closest hospital with a pelvic pain service

Early Intervention Pelvic Pain (CONNECT) Clinic 

This is a time-limited program of approximately 6–12 months.
Suitable for patients with:

• Pelvic pain, dysmenorrhoea, and/or dyspareunia 
• Suspected endometriosis 
• A preference for multimodal, non-surgical symptom management before proceeding to surgical diagnostic procedures 
• Age under 40 years  

Chronic Pelvic Pain Clinic

For most patients, this is a time-limited program of approximately 6–18 months.
Suitable for patients with:

• Complex or persistent pelvic pain 
• Persistent pain following diagnostic or operative laparoscopy 
• Pelvic floor pain, post-surgical pelvic pain, or pelvic neuropathies 
• Reversible causes of pain appropriately investigated and treated (e.g. PID or other active pathology excluded) 

Exclusion criteria (both clinics)

• Currently participating in another pain management program or under the care of a private pain specialist 
• Receiving treatment for an infection or another new condition causing pelvic pain 
• External referrals 
• Seeking a second opinion (due to limited service capacity) 
• Highly complex or multiple healthcare needs requiring long-term multidisciplinary care outside a predominantly gynaecological service 
• Insufficient clinical documentation or referral information provided 
• Musculoskeletal lower back pain rather than pelvic pain

Referral requirements

Referrals to the Chronic Pelvic Pain Clinic must be internal only, following assessment and active gynaecological management at The Women’s Hospital. For patients wishing to access this clinic, they must first be referred to the Gynaecology Department for assessment and management.

Urgent referral

If acute, severe pelvic or abdominal pain, please refer patient to their closest emergency department for immediate assessment.

For criteria suggesting urgent referral, please see General gynaecology.

For assessment or care due to concerning or deteriorating condition, consider the most appropriate of:

• re-refer with additional information for triage reassessment
• Women’s Emergency Care
• registrar review and contact via switch on (03) 8345 2000.

Referral instructions

Essential information

All referrals must include essential demographic, medical and social history, and relevant information about the presenting complaint, including:

• A comprehensive pain assessment
• Current management to date, including medications, surgical history, and analgesia regimen
• Assessment of bowel, bladder and sexual function.

For further referral information, visit Women’s health referrals.

Investigations

• Pelvic Ultrasound (within last 6 months; transvaginal or abdominal)
• Most recent CST (if 25 years or over)
• STI screen (unless never sexually active)  

Please also consider:

• if heavy menstrual bleeding: FBE, Ferritin
• previous pathology testing (e.g. coeliac serology, calprotectin)
• other specialists seen
• relevant surgical or endoscopy reports
• other relevant imaging: abdominal or spinal if available.

Send referral

All pelvic pain referrals can be sent to our Gynaecology Clinics via Fast Fax: (03) 8345 3036.

Use our Women’s Health Referral Form – jump to Referral templates (Downloads).

Referrals will be reviewed and triaged to the most appropriate service depending on the patient’s clinical presentation, diagnoses and history of management.

Suitable patients participating in the Early Intervention Pelvic Pain (CONNECT) Clinic remain on the Gynaecology waiting list. GPs will receive a clinical handover letter from the treating medical specialist on completion of the CONNECT Clinic consultations.

In detail: How referrals are processed

Appointments

Pelvic pain clinics are held on Mondays and Fridays.

Medical specialist and initial physiotherapy appointments are face-to-face. Telehealth is available for some physiotherapy, psychology, dietetics and clinical nurse consultant appointments.

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