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Pelvic inflammatory disease facts*

*Pelvic inflammatory facts Medically Edited by: Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD

• Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) is an infection of a woman's pelvic organs including the uterus (womb), Fallopian tubes (tubes), ovaries, and cervix.
  
  
• Pelvic inflammatory disease  develops as the result of spread of a sexually transmitted disease.
  
  
• Most cases of pelvic inflammatory disease  are caused by gonorrhea and/or Chlamydia.
  
  
• Young, sexually active women with multiple sex partners are at greatest risk for pelvic inflammatory disease .
  
  
• Pelvic inflammatory disease  many not produce any symptoms. In other cases it can cause fever, abdominal or pelvic pain, vaginal discharge, painful urination, or painful sexual intercourse.
  
  
• Pelvic inflammatory disease  is treated with antibiotics.
  
  
• Complications of untreated pelvic inflammatory disease  can include scarring of the pelvic organs and infertility.

What is pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)?

elvic inflammatory disease (PID) is an infection of a woman's pelvic organs. The pelvic organs include the uterus (womb), fallopian (fuh-LOH-pee-uhn) tubes (tubes), ovaries, and cervix.

What causes pelvic inflammatory disease?

A woman can get PID if bacteria (germs) move up from her vagina and infect her pelvic organs. Many different types of bacteria can cause PID. But, most cases of PID are caused by bacteria that cause 2 common sexually transmitted infections (STIs) — gonorrhea (gah-nuh-REE-uh) and chlamydia (kluh-MI-dee-uh). It can take from a few days to a few months for an infection to travel up from the vagina to the pelvic organs.

You can get PID without having an STI. Normal bacteria found in the vagina and on the cervix can sometimes cause PID. No one is sure why this happens.

You can get pelvic inflammatory disease without having an STI. Normal bacteria found in the vagina and on the cervix can sometimes cause pelvic inflammatory disease. No one is sure why this happens.