Pelvic inflammatory disease

Abstract

Pelvic inflammatory disease is a common but often uncertain diagnosis, crossing the specialty boundaries of general practice, family planning, accident and emergency medicine, genitourinary medicine and gynaecology. As well as the immediate morbidity it causes, it can commonly lead to potentially serious complications (subfertility, ectopic pregnancy, chronic pelvic pain and psychological morbidity). Despite a number of published guidelines, uncertainty and variation still surround its diagnosis, clinical management and treatment. In this article, we review current guidelines and literature and highlight recent developments and controversies.