Read up on Pelvic inflammatory disease treatment options at Consumer Reports Health.

Pelvic inflammatory disease

Key points about treatments

Antibiotics are good at treating pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). You will probably not need any other treatment. But you may still have long-term problems if your reproductive organs were damaged by PID before you started the treatment.

Key messages about pelvic inflammatory disease

PID may be caused by more than one type of bacteria. So you'll be given a combination of

antibiotics
These medications are used to help your immune system fight infection. There are a number of different types of antibiotics that work in different ways to get rid of bacteria, parasites and other infectious agents. Antibiotics do not work against viruses.

antibiotics that work against different bacteria.
The commonly used combinations of antibiotics all seem to be equally good at curing PID.
Doctors will probably prescribe the antibiotics without waiting for your test results to be certain that you have PID. This is because delaying treatment by three days or more may harm your fertility.

Source:
Hillis SD, Joesoef R, Marchbanks PA, et al.
Delayed care of pelvic inflammatory disease as a risk factor for impaired fertility.
American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. 1993; 168: 1503-1509.

¹
Even if you are successfully treated with antibiotics, you may still have long-term problems.

Source:
Buchan H, Vessey M, Goldacre M, et al.
Morbidity following pelvic inflammatory disease.
British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. 1993; 100: 558-562.

²

Source:
Brunham RC, Binns B, Guijon F, et al.
Etiology and outcome of acute pelvic inflammatory disease.
Journal of Infectious Diseases. 1988; 158: 510-517.

³
Giving women antibiotics as a precaution before they have an intrauterine contraceptive device (also called IUD or coil) fitted does not seem to protect against getting PID.

Source:
Grimes DA, Schulz KF.
Antibiotic prophylaxis for intrauterine contraceptive device insertion (Cochrane review).
In: The Cochrane Library. Update Software, Oxford, UK.

⁴

Sources for the information on this page:

Hillis SD, Joesoef R, Marchbanks PA, et al.Delayed care of pelvic inflammatory disease as a risk factor for impaired fertility.American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. 1993; 168: 1503-1509.

Buchan H, Vessey M, Goldacre M, et al.Morbidity following pelvic inflammatory disease.British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. 1993; 100: 558-562.

Brunham RC, Binns B, Guijon F, et al.Etiology and outcome of acute pelvic inflammatory disease.Journal of Infectious Diseases. 1988; 158: 510-517.

Grimes DA, Schulz KF.Antibiotic prophylaxis for intrauterine contraceptive device insertion (Cochrane review).In: The Cochrane Library. Update Software, Oxford, UK.

This information was last updated on May 01, 2009

This information is for educational use only, and is not a substitute for prompt professional medical advice. Readers should always consult a physician or other professional for advice and treatment.
© BMJ Publishing Group Limited 2009. All rights reserved.

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