Pelvic Inflammatory Disease

Pelvic Inflammatory Disease General Information

When a female’s ovaries, fallopian tubes and uterus present an inflammation that easily develops to formation of scars with adhesions to the organs and tissues located nearby these organs, then she is probably suffering from PID or Pelvic Inflammatory Disease. This medical condition presents a high risk for the patient’s life and general health because it can lead to necrosis of the tissues with formation of abscess. This infection of the female reproductive system appears when the sexually transmitted bacteria spread from the vagina to the uterus and to the upper genital tract. Bacteria may be introduced during some gynecological procedures. In some cases, pus can be found into the peritoneum (a membrane that covers the internal organs found in the abdominal and pelvic area).

If a woman has the disease she may not always be aware of it. Pelvic Inflammatory Disease is usually associated with several sexually transmitted diseases and may be considered a result of these infections. This medical disorder affecting the genital organs of women has a vague name because the infections that can occur may have various causes, for example, they can be fungal, parasitic, viral and more often bacterial infections. Pelvic Inflammatory Disease has different manifestations, depending on the stage of the infections, the organs that have been affected and the organisms that cause it. In many cases, the cause are the sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), but there can also be other routes, such as IUD (intrauterine device) related, postpartum, lymphatic, hematogenous spread or postabortal.

Pelvic Inflammatory Disease Symptoms

Pelvic Inflammatory Disease, also known as PID represents a real danger for the female reproductive system because it can cause the necrosis of the affected tissues. The specific signs and symptoms of this medical condition vary in intensity and range from mild to really severe and painful ones. The main signs and symptoms caused by this infection of the female genital organs are: pain or difficulty during urination, pain during intercourse, pain in the low abdominal area and in the pelvis, pain felt in the low back. Other symptoms include the presence of serious vaginal discharge that may have unpleasant odor, diarrhea, fever, nausea and vomiting, unusual menstrual bleeding and fever. Also, a female patient must have in mind that this type of medical condition does not always present signs and symptoms; in this case, we call it asymptomatic.

This form of Pelvic Inflammatory Disease is more common when Chlamydia caused the infection. The absence of obvious manifestations specific for this disease increases the risk that the respective female will pass Chlamydia to her sexual partners and her genital organs will be seriously damaged. If Pelvic Inflammatory Disease is not diagnosed and treated in time, the consequences are really terrible for a woman. The infected fluid can collect and result in abscesses in the fallopian tubes, damaging all the reproductive organs. Some of the complications include: chronic pain felt in the pelvic area, ectopic pregnancy and finally, infertility. One in ten women who suffer from PID become infertile (they are unable to become pregnant after unprotected sex).

Pelvic Inflammatory Disease Treatment

Because Pelvic Inflammatory Disease is a disease that presents a high risk of infertility, an urgent medical intervention is needed. If you experience any of the signs and symptoms listed above specific for this infection, then we strongly advise you to visit your health care provider as soon as possible for a complete medical examination. Once you start experiencing the manifestations that may indicate the presence of this medical disorder, you should also stop having sex. It is also very important that if you have a sexually transmitted disease, to get prompt and adequate treatment for it so that you can easily prevent worsening of your disease. When seeing a specialist, you may need to inform him/her upon all the signs and symptoms that you are experiencing. The doctor will perform an examination of your pelvic area and will want some cervical and vaginal discharge cultures to analyze them in the lab.

During the pelvic exam, the samples from your cervix and vagina will be taken with the help of a cotton swab. These samples will then be sent to the lab to be tested, in order to find out which organism caused the infection. Sometimes, a pelvic laparoscopy is needed to find out how much the infection had spread and also to confirm the diagnosis. After giving the exact diagnose, the health care provider can proceed with applying the right treatment. The standard treatment option used to cure Pelvic Inflammatory Disease is based on antibiotics that will help your immune system fight against the microorganisms that caused the infections. The doctors may prefer to administrate a combination of antibiotics before they receive the exact diagnosis from the laboratory. Once the results are known for sure, the medications can be adjusted. In order to relieve the pain, the specialists will administrate some drugs to ease it and will recommend bed rest.

You can avoid being reinfected with Pelvic Inflammatory Disease by simply advising your sexual partner to undergo an exam before starting your sexual life at his or her side. Sexual intercourse must be avoided until the treatment is completed and the following tests indicate that the medical disorder is cured. If the patient’s health status has not improved within three to five days after the beginning of the treatment, he is advised to return to the hospital for a new medical exam and for further new treatment. The medicines can be administrated by mouth (orally) or by vein (IV, intravenously). In some more serious cases, the hospitalization of the patient is necessary. Surgery, as a treatment option is very rarely used. This type of treatment is applied if the woman does not respond to any treatment or there is an abscess that threatens to rupture or is already ruptured. The prevention is very important when dealing with Pelvic Inflammatory Disease. Although the expectations of a treatment are usually high, why not better prevent it? Safe sex practices, using a new condom, abstinence or mutually monogamous sex can reduce the risk of getting a sexually transmitted disease (STD) that then will evolve to Pelvic Inflammatory Disease. Adoxa is also widely prescribed in such clinical cases.