Pelvic infection is a disease which is more commonly referred to as Pelvic Inflammatory disease(PID) and is a condition in which the uterus, ovaries, fallopian tubes get infected or inflamed and start getting converted into scars. PID also leads to infertility in some cases and is caused due to a number of reasons such as sexually transmitted infections, abortion, portpartum etc.
There are many ways to recognize or identify pelvic infection and the following are some of its signs and symptoms:
Symptoms and Signs of Pelvic Infection
- One of the most common signs of pelvic infection is pain and tenderness of the stomach or pain in the lower abdomen. In some cases, pain might also be caused in the right upper abdomen.
- Another way to identify PID is abnormal vaginal discharge which may be either green or yellow in color. If the vaginal discharge has an abnormal odor, then even this might be a symptom of pelvic inflammation disease.
- Another sign or symptom of a pelvic infection is painful urination.
- Generally pelvic infection causes fever or chills and these too are possible symptoms.
- Nausea, vomiting and dizziness are also ways to identify a pelvic infection, if accompanied with the other symptoms.
- Experiencing pain while having intercourse can also point to pelvic infection or pelvic inflammation disease.
- Irregular periods may be another sign of a pelvic infection.
Risk Factors Involved with Pelvic Infection
The following are some of the risk factors of pelvic infection:
- Those females who are suffering from a sexually transmitted disease such as chlamydia or gonorrhea are at a much higher risk of developing a pelvic infection in comparison to other women.
- Those women who have experienced PID in the past may encounter this infection again and are at a higher risk.
- Sexually active teenage girls have a higher chance of developing a pelvic infection or PID than older females.
- Those women who have many sexual partners are at a much greater risk for PID and other sexually transmitted infections.
Diagnosis
The following are a few ways in which pelvic infection can be diagnosed:
- Doctors generally perform a physical examination and check for abnormal discharge from the vagina, tenderness or pain in the pelvic organs and lumps near ovaries and tubes.
- Some procedures which follow next are sonogram (ultrasound), laparoscopy and endometrial biopsy.
- These tests help to find out whether one has PID or any other condition similar to PID.
