Acute pelvic inflammatory disease

Acute pelvic inflammatory disease refers to the inflammation of any part of the women’s reproductive system. It may include inflammation of the uterus, fallopian tubes, ovaries, and formation of scars and fibrous bands on the nearby tissues and organs. In many cases, this inflammation is a result from some of the sexually transmitted infections. It may be caused by viral, fungal, parasitic, and most often bacterial infections. Acute pelvic inflammatory disease is manageable but very serious health problem. It causes more 100,000 cases of infertility yearly, only in the United States. Each year, it affects about 750,000 women in U.S.

Causes of acute pelvic inflammatory disease

Acute pelvic inflammatory disease is often contracted during the sexual intercourse. However, many other routes of transmission are possible. For example, women may get acute pelvic inflammatory disease after miscarriage, after abortion, or after using an intrauterine device. Pelvic inflammatory disease is more likely to affect women who have already been affected. Some other risk factors also apply. For example, woman is more likely to get the disease if she had recent sexual contact, if a sexual partner has some sexually transmitted disease, or if she recently had her period. Acute pelvic inflammatory disease rarely occurs if a woman hasn’t had a recent intercourse or if she hasn’t been used an intra uterine device.

Symptoms of acute pelvic inflammatory disease

Symptoms of acute pelvic inflammatory disease may range from asymptomatic to extremely severe. Sometimes, women may experience fever, tenderness in the cervical region, lower abdominal pain, changes in the normal vaginal discharge, pain during sexual intercourse and menstruation irregularities. Even when the disease doesn’t manifest in any kind of severe symptoms, it is still considered very dangerous and may have serious consequences, such as infertility, for example. Regular visits to gynecologist are important to identify if there is such a problem that would otherwise go unnoticed.

Treatment of acute pelvic inflammatory disease

Pelvic inflammatory disease is relatively easy to cure but the very effects of the infection, and complications caused by the presence of pathogens inside of the women’s reproductive system, may be permanent. Early identification can help to prevent the damage to the reproductive system. When the lower tract is infected, woman may feel just slight discomfort and a few symptoms. Symptoms are becoming more obvious only when the infection makes a progress to fallopian tubes and ovaries. Treatment depends on the exact cause of the infection and it most commonly involves antibiotic therapy.