Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID) Causes, Symptoms And Treatment

Pelvic inflammatory disease is an inflammatory condition of the female reproductive organs, pelvic cavity. The pelvic cavity may involve the uterus, fallopian tubes, ovaries, pelvic peritoneum, or pelvis vascular system. The most commonly involved organisms in causing pelvic inflammatory disease are gonorrheal, chlamydial and mycoplasma. This infection causes the formation of scars with fibrous bands. The infection may be acute, subacute, recurrent and localized. The chronic infection can lead towards infertility. The symptoms of PID may not be noticeable. Pain and fever are most commonly reported symptoms of PID. Females with sexually transmitted diseases such as gonorrhea or chlamydia are at higher risk for developing PID. Sexually active females are more prone to the development of PID. It is more common in females between the ages of 15 to 24.

Causes

Pelvic inflammatory disease is caused by bacteria particularly neisseria gonorrhoeae, chlamydia trachomatis and mycoplasma species (mycoplasma hominis or mycoplasma genitalium). These are sexually transmitted organisms. These organisms are responsible for about 85-95% cases of PID. These bacteria enter into your body during unprotected sex, menstruation, miscarriage or abortion and after childbirth. The other organisms involved in causing PID are gardnerella vaginalis, ureaplasma urealyticum, herpes simplex virus 2, trichomonas vaginalis, cytomegalovirus (CMV), escherichia coli and haemophilus influenzae.

Symptoms

The clinical presentation of pelvic inflammatory disease may include the signs and symptoms which are listed below,

• Pain in the abdomen (It is most common in lower abdomen as compared to upper abdomen)
• Fever
• Painful sexual intercourse
• Irregular bleeding
• Unusual vaginal discharge (Foul-smelling)
• Tiredness
• Nausea and vomiting
• Fainting
• Pain in the lower back
• Painful and frequent urination
• Headache
• Fitz-Hugh-Curtis syndrome (Rarely)

Treatment

Antibiotics are the mainstay of treatment in pelvic inflammatory disease. The most commonly prescribed antibiotics for the treatment of PID are cefoxitin, metronidazole, ceftriaxone and doxycycline. This antibiotic course lasts for about 14 days. In the case of pregnant women, then your doctor will admit you in the hospital and give you antibiotics by intravenous administration under his supervision. If there is no improvement with antibiotics, then surgery is recommended. Surgery is preferred if the abscess ruptures in your pelvis or there is a chance that the abscess will rupture.  The surgical procedure involves the removal of one or both fallopian tubes. The surgery is needed in rare cases.