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Am Fam Physician. 2026;113(4):360-368

This clinical content conforms to AAFP criteria for CME.

Author disclosure: No relevant financial relationships.

Bladder pain syndrome is a chronic condition characterized by bladder pain associated with other urologic symptoms. It is a diagnosis of exclusion. Initial evaluation of suspected bladder pain syndrome includes a thorough history, physical examination, urinalysis, and urine culture, with cystoscopy reserved for further assessment. Symptom diaries help clarify the diagnosis, identify common triggers for flare-ups, and guide behavioral management strategies. Treatment begins with behavior and lifestyle modification and pelvic floor physical therapy. If this is inadequate, oral medications (eg, gabapentinoids, amitriptyline, antihistamines), intravesical instillation therapies, or procedural therapies (eg, neuromodulation) can be offered. Pain should be assessed at baseline and throughout the treatment course. Optimal treatment is multimodal, individualized, and multidisciplinary, frequently involving referral to urology or urogynecology specialists.

BACKGROUND

Bladder pain syndrome, formerly known as interstitial cystitis, is a chronic condition with a 4: 1 ratio of women to men.1 In 2025, the American Urogynecologic Society and International Urogynecological Association agreed to standard terminology, including renaming the condition in women to female bladder pain syndrome.2 For simplicity and inclusion of male patients, this article refers to the condition as bladder pain syndrome and references issues specific to male patients when appropriate.

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