Toe spreading ability in men with CPPS...

[superuse]

OK, I know some in pelvic pain have described problems in feet or (usually big) toes, so my entry for offbeat research paper of the day is:

Toe spreading ability in men with chronic pelvic pain syndrome

by Ugur Yilmaz, Ivan Rothman, Marcia A Ciol, Claire C Yang, Richard E Berger

BMC Urology (2005)
Volume: 5, Issue: 2, Publisher: BioMed Central, Pages: 11
DOI: 10.1186/1471-2490-5-11
PubMed: 15949041
Available from http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov

Abstract

Background: We examined toe-spreading ability in subjects with chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CPPS) to test the hypothesis that subjects with chronic prostatitis / chronic pelvic pain syndrome could have deficiencies in lower extremity functions innervated by sacral spinal roots.

Methods: Seventy two subjects with chronic prostatitis / chronic pelvic pain syndrome and 98 volunteer controls were examined as part of a larger study on CPPS. All the subjects underwent a detailed urologic and neurological examination including a toe-spreading examination with a quantitative scoring system. We compared the groups in terms of ability of toe-spreading as either "complete" (all toes spreading) or "incomplete" (at least one interdigital space not spreading) and also by comparing the number of interdigital spaces. For chronic prostatitis / chronic pelvic pain syndrome subjects only, we also analyzed the variation of the National Institutes of Health Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (NIH-CPSI) scales by toe-spreading categories.

Results: chronic prostatitis / chronic pelvic pain syndrome subjects were less often able to spread all toes than subjects without chronic prostatitis / chronic pelvic pain syndrome (p = 0.005). None of the NIH-CPSI sub-scales (pain, urinary symptoms, and quality of life), nor the total score showed an association with toe spreading ability.

Conclusion: We found toe spreading to be diminished in subjects with CPPS. We hypothesize that incomplete toe spreading in subjects with chronic prostatitis / chronic pelvic pain syndrome may be related to subtle deficits involving the most caudal part of the spinal segments