Clinical aspects of acute pelvic inflammatory disease: Cook County Hospital.

We reviewed Cook County Hospital records of 134 consecutive patients hospitalized for acute pelvic inflammatory disease unrelated to intrauterine devices, delivery, or pelvic surgery. Nearly half our patients had peritonitis or a pelvic mass and most were young or nulliparous. Neisseria gonorrhoeae was recovered from the endocervices of 41 (34%) of 120 patients and was more common among younger patients. Most patients responded to antibiotic therapy; consequently, we recommend antibiotic treatment for acute PID unless surgical emergencies cannot be excluded or patients do not improve with antibiotic therapy alone.