biology

Pelvic inflammatory disease

Pelvic inflammatory disease is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Pelvic inflammatory disease rather than just read about it. In short: Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), also known as pelvic inflammatory disorder, is an infection of the upper part of the female reproductive system, mainly the uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries, and inside of the pelvis. Often, there may be no symptoms.

Key takeaways

Pelvic inflammatory disease belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Pelvic inflammatory disease to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Pelvic inflammatory disease from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), also known as pelvic inflammatory disorder, is an infection of the upper part of the female reproductive system, mainly the uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries, and inside of the pelvis. Often, there may be no symptoms. Signs and symptoms, when present, may include lower abdominal pain, vaginal discharge, fever, burning with urination, pain with sex, bleeding after sex, or irregular menstruation. Untreated PID can result in long-term complications including infertility, ectopic pregnancy, chronic pelvic pain, and cancer. The disease is caused by bacteria that spread from the vagina and cervix. It has been reported that infections by Neisseria gonorrhoeae or Chlamydia trachomatis are present in 75 to 90 percent of cases. However, in the UK it is reported by the NHS that infections by Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Chlamydia trachomatis are responsible for only a quarter of PID cases. Often, multiple different bacteria are involved. Without treatment, about 10 percent of those with a chlamydial infection and 40 percent of those with a gonorrhea infection will develop PID. Risk factors are generally similar to those of sexually transmitted infections and include a high number of sexual partners and drug use. Vaginal douching may also increase the risk. The diagnosis is typically based on the presenting signs and symptoms. It is recommended that the disease be considered in all women of childbearing age who have lower abdominal pain. A definitive diagnosis of PID is made by finding pus involving the fallopian tubes during surgery. Ultrasound may also be useful in diagnosis. Efforts to prevent the disease include not having sex or having few sexual partners and using condoms. Screening women at risk for chlamydial infection followed by treatment decreases the risk of PID. If the diagnosis is suspected, treatment is typically advised. Treating a woman's sexual partners should also occur. In those with mild or moderate symptoms, a single injection of the antibiotic ceftriaxone along with two weeks of doxycycline and possibly metronidazole by mouth is recommended. For those who do not improve after three days or who have severe disease, intravenous antibiotics should be used. Globally, about 106 million cases of chlamydia and 106 million cases of gonorrhea occurred in 2008. The number of cases of PID, however, is not clear. It is estimated to affect about 1.5 percent of young women yearly. In the United States, PID is estimated to affect about one million people each year. A type of intrauterine device (IUD) known as the Dalkon shield led to increased rates of PID in the 1970s. Current IUDs are not associated with this problem after the first month.

Signs and symptoms Symptoms in PID range from none to severe. If there are symptoms, fever, cervical motion tenderness, lower abdominal pain, new or different discharge, painful intercourse, uterine tenderness, adnexal tenderness, or irregular menstruation may be noted. Other complications include endometritis, salpingitis, tubo-ovarian abscess, pelvic peritonitis, periappendicitis, and perihepatitis.

Complications

PID can cause scarring inside the reproductive system, which can later cause serious complications, including chronic pelvic pain, infertility, ectopic pregnancy (the leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths in adult females), and other complications of pregnancy. Occasionally, the infection can spread to the peritoneum causing inflammation and the formation of scar tissue on the external surface of the liver (Fitz-Hugh–Curtis syndrome).

Cause Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae are common causes of PID. However, PID can also be caused by other untreated infections, like bacterial vaginosis. Data suggest that PID is often polymicrobial. Isolated anaerobes and facultative microorganisms have been obtained from the upper genital tract. N. gonorrhoeae has been isolated from fallopian tubes, facultative and anaerobic organisms were recovered from endometrial tissues. The anatomical structure of the internal organs and tissues of the female reproductive tract provides a pathway for pathogens to ascend from the vagina to the pelvic cavity through the infundibulum. The disturbance of the naturally occurring vaginal microbiota associated with bacterial vaginosis increases the risk of PID. N. gonorrhoea and C. trachomatis are the most common organisms. The least common were infections caused exclusively by anaerobes and facultative organisms. Anaerobes and facultative bacteria were also isolated from 50 percent of the patients from whom Chlamydia and Neisseria were recovered; thus, anaerobes and facultative bacteria were present in the upper genital tract of nearly two-thirds of the PID patients. PCR and serological tests have associated extremely fastidious organism with endometritis, PID, and tubal factor infertility. Microorganisms associated with PID are listed below. Cases of PID have developed in people who have stated they have never had sex.

Bacteria

Diagnosis

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Pelvic inflammatory disease

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Pelvic inflammatory disease claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Pelvic inflammatory disease before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Pelvic inflammatory disease ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Pelvic inflammatory disease

In research: Pelvic inflammatory disease appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Pelvic inflammatory disease in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Pelvic inflammatory disease is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Abdominal pain, Bacterial diseases, Chlamydia infections, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Pelvic inflammatory disease outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Pelvic inflammatory disease” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Pelvic inflammatory disease in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Pelvic inflammatory disease means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Pelvic inflammatory disease out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Pelvic inflammatory disease in simple terms?

Why does Pelvic inflammatory disease matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Pelvic inflammatory disease?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Pelvic inflammatory disease.