Pelvic Inflammatory Disease
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Summary
Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) is an infection and inflammation of the uterus, ovaries, and other female reproductive organs. It causes scarring in these organs. This can lead to infertility, ectopic pregnancy, pelvic pain, abscesses, and other serious problems. PID is the most common preventable cause of infertility in the United States.
Gonorrhea and chlamydia, two sexually transmitted diseases, are the most common causes of PID. Other bacteria can also cause it. You are at greater risk if you
- Are sexually active and younger than 25
- Have more than one sex partner
- Douche
Some women have no symptoms. Others have pain in the lower abdomen, fever, smelly vaginal discharge, irregular bleeding, and pain during intercourse or urination. Doctors diagnose PID with a physical exam, lab tests, and imaging tests. Antibiotics can cure PID. Early treatment is important. Waiting too long increases the risk of infertility.
NIH: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Diagnosis and Tests
-
Laparoscopy
(National Library of Medicine)
Also in Spanish
- Pelvic laparoscopy - slideshow (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Treatments and Therapies
- Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID) Treatment and Care (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Statistics and Research
- Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID) Statistics (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Clinical Trials
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Pelvic Inflammatory Disease
(National Institutes of Health)
Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
- Article: Endometrial TGF-β, IL-10, IL-17 and autophagy are dysregulated in women...
- Article: Recurrent Implantation Failure-update overview on etiology, diagnosis, treatment and future directions.
- Article: Skin preparation for preventing infection following caesarean section.
- Pelvic Inflammatory Disease -- see more articles
Children
- Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation)
Teenagers
- Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (For Teens) (Nemours Foundation)
Patient Handouts
- Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID) (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - PDF
- Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) -- aftercare (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish