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Nomenclature
The nomenclature for the condition currently referred to as painful bladder syndrome/interstitial cystitis (PBS/IC) has been contemplated by urologists for the last twenty or thirty years.
Many different names are used to describe the symptoms characteristic of IC. These include:
- Painful Bladder Syndrome (PBS),
- Bladder Pain Syndrome (BPS),
- The umbrella term Hypersensitive Bladder Syndrome
- Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome (CPPS)
A lack of an internationally accepted, standard definition has led to each country adopting their preferred terminology and guidelines for the diagnosis of PBS/IC.
The International Continence Society (ICS) prefers the term painful bladder syndrome (PBS) which it defines as ‘the complaint of suprapubic pain related to bladder filling, accompanied by other symptoms such as increased daytime and night-time frequency, in the absence of proven urinary infection or other obvious pathology’. The ICS reserves the term interstitial cystitis as being a ‘specific diagnosis and requires confirmation by typical cystoscopic features’.1
In 2006 the European Society for the Study of Interstitial Cystitis/Painful Bladder Syndrome (ESSIC) designed a type classification system according to findings at cystoscopy and biopsy and announced that it preferred to use the term bladder pain syndrome (BPS). The ESSIC also proposed amending the wording of the ICS definition of interstitial cystitis to ‘by typical cystoscopic and/or histological features’.1,2
It has been decided (by the ICS and urology experts worldwide) to use the term painful bladder syndrome/interstitial cystitis (PBS/IC) for the time being.
Is the name important?
Perhaps the name of the condition is not vital; however acceptance of the definition and classification is important for research and clinical practice. Therefore, it may be beneficial to keep IC within the name when discussing the condition with patients as this can help educate and empower them, providing a platform for self-research on the internet. Often the advice they will likely find will be the same for IC and PBS in any case.