Pelvic Inflammatory Disease: updates from diagnosis to treatment

Abstract

Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) is a clinical syndrome caused by several microorganisms, mainly those related to sexually transmitted infections (STIs), which ascend the female genital tract towards the upper genital organs. It is a disease that affects young women, who have an active sex life and have a history of chlamydia, for example. Its clinical picture may be symptomatic, with pain in the lower abdomen being the main complaint, or in some cases the patient may be asymptomatic. The disease is confirmed by classifying the symptoms into major, minor or elaborate criteria, and by complementary laboratory and imaging tests. Its treatment can be outpatient or hospital, depending on the degree of symptoms and should be started as soon as possible, even empirically, using broad-spectrum antimicrobials. The importance of a quick diagnosis and treatment is due to the possible consequences that PID can cause, such as infertility. This literature review aims to disclose the causes and symptoms of the disease, which is one of the most important sexually transmitted infections, since the lack of a quick diagnosis and treatment, or even an inadequate treatment, increases the chances of complications for the women's health. This is a literature review on Pelvic Inflammatory Disease. A search was carried out for scientific articles in the databases Google Scholar, Scielo and indexed journals between the years 2020 to 2023, in Portuguese and English, with the following descriptors: Pelvic Inflammatory Disease, Sexually Transmitted Infections and Chlamydia trachomatis. Even though it is a condition that affects many young women, PID is an underreported disease, therefore, it is necessary to have more teaching about sex education, since the main cause of PID is STIs.