Pelvic inflammatory disease

infection of uterus, fallopian tubes, ovaries or the inner surface of pelvis

Pelvic inflammatory disease or PID is an infection. It is an infection of the female organs: uterus. fallopian tubes, cervix, and ovaries.[1] PID can cause a women not being able to have a baby. It can cause a baby to grow outside of the womb and pelvic pain.[2] Sometimes the woman does not feel sick.[3] The infection is caused by bacteria.[4] Sexually transmitted infections can cause pelvic inflammatory disease.[5] The infection is from having sex with some one who has the infection. One in 8 women with a history of PID may have a problem getting pregnant.[5]

Signs and symptoms

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Illustration of pelvic inflammatory disease

A woman with PID can feel sick. But sometimes a woman with PID does not feel sick. A woman with PID can have a fever, She can have pain when the belly is touched, painful sex, or unusual bleeding.[6] The signs of being sick with PID can be:

If this illness is not treated it can prevent a woman from having children. It can kill the unborn child and it can be very painful.[1] This disease can be treated and the infection can be cured. PID is treated by a doctor with antibiotic medication.[4]

Cause

The infection is caused by microorganisms that enter the body through the vagina during sex. The bacteria travel up thorough the uterus and into the inside of the body.[8] There are many microorganisms that cause infection in this way, such as:

Diagnosis

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Mucopurulent cervical discharge seen on a Q-tip
 
Micrograph of salpingitis - a component of pelvic inflammatory disease. H&E stain.

Medical workers use different tests to find the infection. They can perform a medical exam to see evidence of pus and find painful areas.[11] They can use a microscope to see the microorganisms causing the infection.[10] A blood test can detect PID.[12] Two thirds of women were not aware they had PID. Even with no signs of infection, PID can cause serious harm.

Similar symptoms

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Other things can cause the same infection as PID. This could be a complicated pregnancy, appendicitis, swollen or twisted ovaries, and endometriosis.[1][13] A woman is more likely to get Pelvic inflammatory disease if she has had it before. She is more likely to have the infection if she has recently had sex, started menstruation, had an Intrauterine device put inside her uterus or if her sex partner has a sexually transmitted infection.[14]

Prevention

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Medical testing for sexually transmitted infections is important for prevention. The chance of getting PID can be made less by:

  • Using condoms
  • Not having sex[15]
  • Seeing a doctor if you have belly pain
  • Not having sex with anyone that has or had a sexually transmitted infection[16]
  • Not having sex after a baby is born, a miscarriage, or abortion.[14]

Treatment

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If your medical provider thinks you are infected, treatment is usually started right away. Serious results may happen from delayed treatment. Sometimes the medical provider will use a test to help find the infection. Curing the infection with antibiotic medications is normal. Treating sex partners for possible infections will help in treatment and prevention of getting the infection again.[17]

If the women does not get treated, the infection can get worse. Then many things will happen. If this infection is found early, treatment can begin, and the problems can be prevented. Some of the bad things that can happen with PID are blocked fallopian tubes and internal scar tissue. The woman could have a baby grow outside the womb. There could be much pain in the belly.[5]

Being cured

Even when the PID infection is cured, the damage from the infection may not go away.[18] This makes finding the infection important. Treatment by medical providers can prevent damage to the female reproductive organs.

Other websites

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References

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  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Mitchell, C; Prabhu, M (December 2013). "Pelvic inflammatory disease: current concepts in pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment". Infectious Disease Clinics of North America. 27 (4): 793–809. doi:10.1016/j.idc.2013.08.004. PMC 3843151. PMID 24275271.
  2. Mitchell, Caroline; Prabhu, Malavika (December 2013). "Pelvic Inflammatory Disease". Infectious Disease Clinics of North America. 27 (4): 793–809. doi:10.1016/j.idc.2013.08.004. PMC 3843151. PMID 24275271.
  3. 3.0 3.1 "Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID) Clinical Manifestations and Sequelae". cdc.gov. October 2014. Archived from the original on 22 February 2015. Retrieved 21 February 2015.  This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Menezes, Maria Luiza Bezerra; Giraldo, Paulo Cesar; Linhares, Iara Moreno; Boldrini, Neide Aparecida Tosato; Aragon, Mayra Gonçalves (2021). "Brazilian Protocol for Sexually Transmitted infections, 2020: pelvic inflammatory disease". Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical. 54 (Suppl 1): e2020602. doi:10.1590/0037-8682-602-2020. ISSN 0037-8682. PMC 8210479. PMID 34008722.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 "STD Facts - Pelvic Inflammatory Disease". www.cdc.gov. 2022-07-05. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
  6. "Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) Symptoms; Diseases and Conditions". Mayo Clinic. Retrieved 2018-08-11.
  7. Li, Haining; Hu, Yanling; Liu, Dan; Wang, Juanjuan; Han, Panpan; Zhang, Nan; Li, Yan (2022-04-01). Tang, Min (ed.). "Bioinformatic Characterization of Whole Blood Neutrophils in Pelvic Inflammatory Disease: A Potential Prognostic Indicator for Transumbilical Single-Port Laparoscopic Pelvic Abscess Surgery". Computational and Mathematical Methods in Medicine. 2022: 1–12. doi:10.1155/2022/2555603. ISSN 1748-6718. PMC 8993565. PMID 35401780.
  8. Van De Graaff, Kent M.; Fox, Stuart Ira (1989). Concepts of Human Anatomy and Physiology. Dubuque, Iowa: William C. Brown Publishers. p. 959. ISBN 978-0-697-05675-7.
  9. 9.0 9.1 DeCherney, Alan H.; Nathan, Lauren (2003). Current obstetric & gynecologic diagnosis & treatment. New York: Lange Medical Books/McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0-8385-1401-6. OCLC 150148652.
  10. 10.0 10.1 Loscalzo, Joseph; et al. (2001). Cecil essentials of medicine. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders. ISBN 978-0-7216-8179-5. OCLC 43051599.
  11. Tuboovarian complex Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine by Emily C. Wasco and Gillian Lieberman MD. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. October 17, 2003
  12. Reljic M, Gorisek B (February 1998). "C-reactive protein and the treatment of pelvic inflammatory disease". Int J Gynaecol Obstet. 60 (2): 143–50. doi:10.1016/s0020-7292(97)00236-1. PMID 9509952. S2CID 2679330.
  13. "Pelvic Pain in Women". Patient.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2015-03-10. Retrieved 2015-03-12.
  14. 14.0 14.1 "Pelvic Inflammatory Disease". CDC Fact Sheet. Retrieved 2015-03-12.
  15. "Prevention - STD Information from CDC". Center For Disease Control. Retrieved 2015-02-21.
  16. Smith KJ; Cook RL; Roberts MS (2007). "Time from sexually transmitted infection acquisition to pelvic inflammatory disease development: influence on the cost-effectiveness of different screening intervals". Value Health. 10 (5): 358–66. doi:10.1111/j.1524-4733.2007.00189.x. PMID 17888100.
  17. "Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID) Partner Management and Public Health Measures". Centers for Disease Control. October 2014. Archived from the original on February 22, 2015. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
  18. "Pelvic Inflammatory Disease". MedScape. Retrieved 2015-03-10.