eMedicine Specialties > Obstetrics and Gynecology > Infections

Pelvic Inflammatory Disease: Follow-up

Author: James B Hill, MD, Chief, Division of Obstetrics, Staff Physician, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Womack Army Medical Center
Coauthor(s): Ernest Lockrow, DO, Chief of Gynecology Service, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Walter Reed Army Medical Center; Assistant Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
Contributor Information and Disclosures

Updated: Aug 27, 2009

Follow-up

Further Inpatient Care

  • Most patients clinically respond within 48-72 hours after medical therapy. If the patient continues to have fever, chills, uterine tenderness, adnexal tenderness, and cervical motion tenderness, consider other possible causes and a diagnostic laparoscopy.

Further Outpatient Care

  • Perform a follow-up examination 48-72 hours after prescribing outpatient therapy to ensure clinical improvement. If the patient continues to have fevers, chills, uterine tenderness, adnexal tenderness, and cervical motion tenderness, consider hospitalization.
  • Male sex partners of women with PID should be examined and treated if they have had sexual contact with the patient during the 60 days preceding the onset of symptoms in the patient.

Inpatient & Outpatient Medications

See Medical Care.

Deterrence/Prevention

  • Randomized controlled trials suggest that preventing chlamydial infection reduces the incidence of PID. Other methods of preventing PID and STD include reducing the number of sexual partners, avoiding unsafe sexual practices, and using condoms with spermicide. Use of mechanical barriers with spermicide also decreases the risk of acquiring STDs.
  • Notification of the female sex partners of men infected with C trachomatis is recommended.

Complications

  • Tubo-ovarian abscess is one of the major complications of acute PID, and it occurs in up to 15-30% of women requiring hospitalization for treatment of PID.

Prognosis

  • Therapy using antibiotics alone is successful in 33-75% of cases. If surgical therapy is warranted, the current trend in therapy is conservation of reproductive potential with simple drainage, adhesiolysis, and copious irrigation or unilateral adnexectomy, if possible. Further surgical therapy is needed in 15-20% of cases so managed.
  • Chronic pelvic pain occurs in approximately 25% of patients with a history of PID. This pain is thought to be related to cyclic menstrual changes, but it also may be the result of adhesions or hydrosalpinx.
  • Impaired fertility is a major concern in women with a history of PID. The rate of infertility increases with the number of episodes of infection.
  • The risk of ectopic pregnancy is increased in women with a history of PID. Ectopic pregnancy is a direct result of damage to the fallopian tube.

Patient Education

Miscellaneous

Medicolegal Pitfalls

A frequent cause of litigation is failure to diagnose. The physician should always clearly document the patient's symptoms, as well as the physical examination and results of laboratory and radiological studies. Documenting the diagnosis, treatment plan, and disposition of the case is equally important. If the patient is referred to other services for consultation, a copy of the consulting physician's note should be attached to the medical record.

Special Concerns

Women with HIV infection who have PID have similar symptoms when compared to women who do not have HIV. However, women with HIV infection are more likely to have a tubo-ovarian abscess but effectively respond to standard parenteral and oral antibiotics.

 


More on Pelvic Inflammatory Disease

Overview: Pelvic Inflammatory Disease
Differential Diagnoses & Workup: Pelvic Inflammatory Disease
Treatment & Medication: Pelvic Inflammatory Disease
Follow-up: Pelvic Inflammatory Disease
References
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References

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  2. Short VL, Totten PA, Ness RB, Astete SG, Kelsey SF, Murray P, et al. The demographic, sexual health and behavioral correlates of Mycoplasma genitalium infection among women with clinically suspected pelvic inflammatory disease. Sex Transm Infect. Aug 24 2009;[Medline].

  3. Bakken IJ, Ghaderi S. Incidence of pelvic inflammatory disease in a large cohort of women tested for Chlamydia trachomatis: a historical follow-up study. BMC Infect Dis. Aug 14 2009;9(1):130. [Medline].

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Further Reading

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Keywords

pelvic inflammatory disease, PID, uterus, fallopian tubes, intrauterine device, IUD, tubal infertility, genital tract, vagina, cervix, sexually transmitted diseases, STD, ectopic pregnancy, tubal pregnancy, pelvic pain, dysuria, vaginal discharge, vaginal bleeding, Chlamydia trachomatis, C trachomatis, Gardnerella vaginalis, G vaginalis, Haemophilus influenzae, H influenzae, Escherichia coli, E coli, Peptococcus species, Streptococcus agalactiae, S agalactiae, Bacteroides fragilis, B fragilis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, N gonorrhoeae, Mycoplasma genitalium, M genitalium, cytomegalovirus, CMV, endogenous microflora

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Contributor Information and Disclosures

Author

James B Hill, MD, Chief, Division of Obstetrics, Staff Physician, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Womack Army Medical Center
James B Hill, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Coauthor(s)

Ernest Lockrow, DO, Chief of Gynecology Service, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Walter Reed Army Medical Center; Assistant Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
Ernest Lockrow, DO is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Medical Editor

Ronald Levine, MD, Director, Section of Gynecologic Endoscopy, Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Louisville School of Medicine
Ronald Levine, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American Medical Association, and Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Pharmacy Editor

Francisco Talavera, PharmD, PhD, Senior Pharmacy Editor, eMedicine
Disclosure: eMedicine Salary Employment

CME Editor

Frederick B Gaupp, MD, Consulting Staff, Department of Family Practice, Hancock Medical Center
Frederick B Gaupp, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Family Physicians
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Chief Editor

Michel E Rivlin, MD, Professor, Coordinator of Quality Assurance/Quality Improvement, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Mississippi School of Medicine
Michel E Rivlin, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American Medical Association, Mississippi State Medical Association, and Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

 
 
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