Pelvic Inflammatory disease is a condition in which there is an infection in the female reproductive organs. the include the fallopian tubes, the ovaries, uterus and the cervix.
This is a common condition and may affect like every 5 in 100 woman,
What actually happens is that first there is infection in the vagina which later on travels up and affects other organs.
Clinical features
Sometimes the symptoms are very mild and the patient may not even know that they have an infection, while some may experience mild to moderate lower abdominal and pelvic area pain. Other symptoms include:
On and off Fever
Foul smelling vaginal discharge
pain during sex
pain during urination
infertility
bleeding in between periods usually after intercourse.
tiredness and fatigue
Causes:
Many different bacteria can cause pelvic inflammatory disease but Chlamydia and gonorrhea infections are the most common causes.
How does the infection enter your body:
The most common way is through sexual intercourse. Others include after a miscarriage or child birth when repeated pelvic examinations are done or when instruments are used for any diagnostic or treatment purposes.
Risk Factors are any woman of reproductive age group who is sexually active, having multiple sexual partners, having sex without using protection (condoms), excessive use of different vaginal wash products as these may alter the normal vaginal pH causing the growth of bacteria.
- Use of intrauterine contraceptive devise is also one risk factor.
Treatment:
- Antibiotics are given to treat the infection. Usually a combination of 2-3 antibiotics are prescribed. - - - Pain killers and anti inflammatory medicines are given to control and manage pain.
- It is always better to treat the partner at the same time even though males may not have any symptoms, because untreated partner usually leads to recurrence of infection and symptoms.
Complications
- Spread to the blood can be serious and life threatening as it leads to sepsis.
- Infertility a very common complication, as long standing infections damages the pelvic organs and also leads to tube blockage.
- Ectopic pregnancy
- Chronic pelvic pain and scarring and adhesions of pelvic and abdominal organs.