DIAGNOSIS
Your doctor will ask for your detailed medical history and sexual activity. He or she will perform a pelvic exam to check the health of your reproductive organs. Also, he or she will look for evidence of gonorrhea and chlamydia infection. If your doctor found any abnormalities like cervical discharge and tenderness of the cervix, fallopian tubes, and cervix, he or she will send you for examination. This discharge will be tested to determine the cause of the infection, including cultures for gonorrhea and chlamydia.
If your doctor suspects PID, he or she may order other tests, including blood tests to analyze blood for evidence of infection and ultrasound (sonogram) to view the reproductive organs.
Other tests less commonly performed include:
- Endometrial biopsy-in this procedure, a small sample of tissue from the lining of the uterus (endometrium) is removed for evaluation and testing.
- Laparoscopy– A procedure wherein a thin, lighted instrument (laparoscope) is inserted through a small cut in the lower abdomen to allow the doctor to examine the internal reproductive organs.
TREATMENT
If you are positive with PID, you should start your treatment immediately.
- Antibiotics. The initial treatment for mild cases of PID. It is usually consists of one or more antibiotic medications taken by mouth. More significant cases can be treated with a combination of intravenous and oral antibiotics. You may need to be hospitalized, if oral medication is ineffective, if the infection is severe or if you cannot take antibiotics by mouth. If that is the case, medication may be inserted directly into a vein.
If you are diagnosed with PID, your sexual partner(s) also must be treated even if they do not have any symptoms. Otherwise, the infection will likely recur when you have sex again.
- Surgery. Surgery is often needed to remove the abscesses (or the organ with the abscess) to prevent them from rupturing and causing widespread infection throughout the pelvis and abdomen. This may be done with a laparoscope (a thin, lighted instrument) or with a procedure in which the doctor opens the abdomen to view the internal organs (laparotomy) depending on the conditions. Both techniques are major surgical procedures and are performed under general anesthesia (you are put to sleep).
If abscesses have formed on the uterus or ovaries, your doctor may recommend hysterectomy (removal of the uterus) or oophorectomy (removal of the ovaries).
