Pelvic Inflammatory Disease

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Pelvic inflammatory disease is a condition involving the pelvic organs i.e. cervix (cervicitis), uterus (endometritis), salpinx (salpingitis) and ovaries (oophoritis).

Organisms that may be responsible for this disease are- Neisseria gonorrhoea and Chlamydia trachomatis. Endogenous aerobic bacteria such as E. coli, Klebsiella, Proteus and Streptococcus species and endogenous anaerobes such as Bacteroides, Peptostreptococcus and Peptococcus; Mycoplasma hominis and Actinomycetes isreali affect predominantly the vagina presenting as vaginal discharge but ascend through the cervical tract to cause Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID). PID is a disease of the young woman.

Some of the predisposing factors are:

  • Sexual intercourse
  • Induced abortion
  • Dilatation and curettage or endometrial biopsy
  • Intra-uterine device (IUD) insertion or use
  • Hysterosalpingosramy
  • Laparoscopy
  • Radium insertion into the endometrial cavity.

Clinical Features Symptoms:

  • Lower abdominal pain
  • Copious purulent vaginal discharge may be present or absent
  • High-grade fever is an indicator for admission
  • Vomiting
  • Nausea
  • Painful sexual intercourse (dyspareunia)

Signs:

  • Occasional diarrhoea
  • Lower abdominal tenderness with rebound is an indicator for admission
  • Adnexia tenderness
  • Cervical excitation

Complications

  • Peritonitis
  • Tuba-ovarian abscess
  • Hydrosalpinx
  • Ectopic Pregnancy
  • Chronic Pelvic Pain
  • Infertility
  • Mortality

Indications for immediate referral to gynaecology or surgery

  • missed/overdue period
  • recent delivery or abortion
  • abdominal guarding or rebound tenderness
  • abnormal vaginal bleeding
  • abdominal mass
  • temperature above 38 degrees Celsius