• Eric Bair, Elizabeth Simmons, Jessica Hartung, Kinnari Desia, William Maixner, and Denniz Zolnoun.
• *Departments of Endodontics and Biostatistics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC †School of Dentistry, Regional Center for Neurosensory Disorders ‡Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Pelvic Pain Research Unit, University of North Carolina §Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Division of Advanced Laparoscopy and Pelvic Pain, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC.
• Clin J Pain. 2015 Jan 1; 31 (1): 73-8.

ObjectivesWe evaluated the stability of the comorbidity between vulvodynia and orofacial pain (OFP) and its associated clinical characteristics over a 2-year follow-up period.Materials And MethodsIn an earlier study of vestibulodynia patients, we administered questionnaires assessing demographic data, self-reported pain, anxiety, somatic awareness, and presence of signs and symptoms suggestive of clinical and subclinical OFP. The present study readministered the same surveys to a subset of the original cohort after a 2-year follow-up period.ResultsOf the 138 women in the previous study, 71 (51%) agreed to participate in the present study. We confirmed our earlier findings that (1) OFP is a highly prevalent (66%) condition among women with vestibulodynia, and (2) compared with women with no OFP symptoms, those with OFP symptoms experience higher levels of anxiety (P=0.005) and somatic awareness (P<0.001). Although OFP symptoms showed improvement in many of the vestibulodynia patients (33%) with OFP symptoms at baseline, 13% had either developed new symptoms or transitioned from subclinical to clinical OFP classification. Intercourse-related pain decreased in 69% of patients and increased in 24% of patients. Consistent with our earlier report, we did not observe significant differences with respect to demographics or severity of pain during intercourse among the subgroups.DiscussionOFP is a common comorbidity among women with vestibulodynia, although the presence of OFP can vary over time. The comorbidity between vestibulodynia and OFP suggests that common underlying mechanisms may mediate both conditions.

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