Inflammatory Pelvic Disease: treatment and possible complications

The treatment for pelvic inflammatory disease (PIE) should be started as soon as possible to prevent any serious complications that affect the woman’s reproductive system such as sterility or the possibility of suffering from an ectopic embarrassment due to injuries that the illness causes in the fallopian tubes.

Usually the treatment is carried out with antibiotics, but depending on the severity of the illness, it may be necessary to carry out a surgical procedure to treat the inflammation or drain the abscesses.

IPE is an infection that starts in the vagina or in the uterine cuello and is more frequent in women who are sexually active or have an intrauterine device (IUD). Know the main causes and symptoms of pelvic inflammatory disease.

How is the treatment performed?

The treatment for water pelvic inflammatory disease consists of the use of oral or injected antibiotics prescribed by the gynecologist for a period of approximately 14 days. The main antibiotic recommended is azithromycin, but those mentioned below can also be used:

• Amoxicillin;
• Ceftriaxone;
• Doxycycline;
• Metronidazole;
• Levofloxacin;
• Gentamicin;
• Clindamycin.

During treatment, it is important that the woman stays at rest, does not have sexual relations without using a condom, removes the IUD if its placement was due to the cause of the illness, in addition to taking medications to relieve pain such as paracetamol the el ibuprofen.

It is important that the partner is also treated, so there is no symptom, this is for the purpose of preventing the woman from becoming infected with the illness.

After 72 hours of treatment with antibiotics started, the woman must be evaluated again by the gynecologist to verify if the treatment that has been used has had good results. If there is not a notable improvement in the symptoms, the doctor may indicate the patient’s hospitalization for the placement of intravenous antibiotics.

In the most serious situations where there is a possibility that a rupture of the abscesses occurs, it may be necessary to carry out a surgical intervention to clean and drain the abscesses, thus preventing them from happening and causing a generalized infection.

possible complications

If the pelvic inflammatory disease is not treated, it can cause irreversible damage to the female reproductive system and even put a woman’s life at risk. Some complications are:

• sterilitydue to the damage caused by the illness in the reproductive apparatus;

• chronic pelvic paindue to scarring in the tubes and other organs, causing pain during ovulation or sexual intercourse, which can last for months or even years;

• ectopic embarrassment, en el that the fetus grows was of the uterus.

Another complication in the more advanced stages of the illness can be the formation of abscesses in the fallopian tubes or in the ovaries which, if not treated in a while, can cause a generalized infection, putting the person’s life at risk.

signs of improvement

The signs that the EIP is improving by the general arisen few days after having started the treatment, reducing the pelvic pain, regulating the menstrual losses and relieving the fever.

In the cases in which the woman did not present associated symptoms, the gynecologist will be able to observe the improvements through imaging exams such as an ultrasound or a laparoscopy.

Signs of Empeora

The EIP can worsen when the treatment does not start in time, so scars appear in the reproductive system that can end up causing bleeding during the menstrual period, fever and even increased pelvic pain, during urination and during intimate contact.