Trichomoniasis in Emergency Medicine Treatment & Management

  • Author: R Gentry Wilkerson, MD; Chief Editor: Rick Kulkarni, MD   more...
 
Updated: Mar 4, 2011
 

Emergency Department Care

Trichomoniasis is usually diagnosed in outpatient or emergency department settings. Treatment should be instituted immediately and, when possible, in conjunction with all sexual partners. Because of the high co-infection rate with other STDs, the health care provider should consider empiric treatment of gonorrhea and chlamydia. Patients should also be offered counseling and testing for HIV.

Patient-delivered partner therapy has been shown to be a safe and effective means of treating the sexual partners of patients diagnosed with trichomoniasis.[60]

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Consultations

  • For patients with treatment failure and in whom reinfection is ruled out, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) can be consulted (tel: 770-488-4115).
  • Infectious diseases specialist
  • Gynecologist
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Contributor Information and Disclosures
Author

R Gentry Wilkerson, MD  Assistant Professor, Director of Research, Emergency Medicine Residency Program, University of South Florida College of Medicine, Tampa General Hospital

R Gentry Wilkerson, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Emergency Physicians

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Coauthor(s)

Richard H Sinert, DO  Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine, Research Director, State University of New York College of Medicine; Consulting Staff, Department of Emergency Medicine, Kings County Hospital Center

Richard H Sinert, DO is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Physicians and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Benjamin W Friedman, MD  Staff Physician, Department of Emergency Medicine, Jacobi/Montefiore Medical Centers

Benjamin W Friedman, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Emergency Medicine and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Judith C Brillman, MD  Professor Emerita, Emergency Medicine Department, University of New Mexico School of Medicine

Judith C Brillman, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Emergency Medicine, American Association of Women Emergency Physicians, and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Specialty Editor Board

Theodore J Gaeta, DO, MPH, FACEP  Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College; Vice Chairman and Program Director of Emergency Medicine Residency Program, Department of Emergency Medicine, New York Methodist Hospital; Academic Chair, Adjunct Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, St George's University School of Medicine

Theodore J Gaeta, DO, MPH, FACEP is a member of the following medical societies: Alliance for Clinical Education, American College of Emergency Physicians, Clerkship Directors in Emergency Medicine, Council of Emergency Medicine Residency Directors, New York Academy of Medicine, and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Francisco Talavera, PharmD, PhD  Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Pharmacy; Editor-in-Chief, Medscape Drug Reference

Disclosure: Medscape Salary Employment

Mark L Plaster, MD, JD  Executive Editor, Emergency Physicians Monthly

Mark L Plaster, MD, JD is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Emergency Medicine and American College of Emergency Physicians

Disclosure: M L Plaster Publishing Co LLC Ownership interest Management position

John D Halamka, MD, MS  Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Chief Information Officer, CareGroup Healthcare System and Harvard Medical School; Attending Physician, Division of Emergency Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

John D Halamka, MD, MS is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Emergency Physicians, American Medical Informatics Association, Phi Beta Kappa, and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Chief Editor

Rick Kulkarni, MD  Attending Physician, Department of Emergency Medicine, Cambridge Health Alliance, Division of Emergency Medicine, Harvard Medical School

Rick Kulkarni, MD is a member of the following medical societies: Alpha Omega Alpha, American Academy of Emergency Medicine, American College of Emergency Physicians, American Medical Association, American Medical Informatics Association, Phi Beta Kappa, and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine

Disclosure: WebMD Salary Employment

Acknowledgments

The authors and editors of eMedicine gratefully acknowledge the medical review of this article by Joseph U Becker, MD.

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Trichomonas vaginalis on a saline wet mount at 40X on the microscope. Several motile parasites transit through the field, surrounded by white blood cells and squamous epithelial cells.
Life cycle of Trichomonas vaginalis.T vaginalis resides in the female lower genital tract and the male urethra and prostate (1), where it replicates by binary fission (2). The parasite does not appear to have a cyst form and does not survive well in the external environment. T vaginalis is transmitted among humans, its only known host, primarily by sexual intercourse (3). Image courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Trichomonas vaginalis. A, Two trophozoites of T vaginalis obtained from in vitro culture, stained with Giemsa. B, Trophozoite of T vaginalis in a vaginal smear, stained with Giemsa. Images courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
 
 
 
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