Pelvic inflammatory disease: how should it be managed?

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To review the published literature on pelvic inflammatory disease over the past year and put into context the major findings.

RECENT FINDINGS: remains the commonest identified cause of pelvic inflammatory disease, and yet our understanding of how it causes mucosal damage and the factors explaining why only a subgroup of women develop pelvic inflammatory disease are not known. The increasing evidence for a chlamydial toxin may help to explain how tissue damage occurs and the indolent nature of many chlamydial infections. The evidence for as an important sexually transmitted cause of pelvic inflammatory disease is growing, with implications for treatment regimens and diagnostic testing. Power Doppler ultrasound has been reported to be both sensitive and specific in diagnosing pelvic inflammatory disease, although larger studies are needed to confirm these early results. Outpatient treatment with cefoxitin and doxycycline appears to be as effective when given in an outpatient setting compared with inpatient management with the same agents in a large randomized controlled trial with almost 3 years' follow-up.

SUMMARY: There remain many gaps in our knowledge of pelvic inflammatory disease, but the reviewed studies increase our understanding of the pathogenesis of infection, and offer the possibility of better diagnosis and reassurance about the long-term success of antibiotic treatment.