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Pelvic inflammatory disease - Management
What advice should I give?
- Explain:
- The importance of completing the course of antibiotics (even if swabs are negative) in order to reduce the risk of long-term complications such as infertility, ectopic pregnancy, and chronic pelvic pain.
- The exception to this is if the woman has mild or moderate pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) and is unable to tolerate metronidazole. She may stop taking the metronidazole but must continue with the other antibiotics in the regimen.
- The importance of screening for sexually transmitted infections.
- The need for contact tracing, and screening and treatment of sexual partners to prevent reinfection.
- The need to avoid unprotected intercourse until both the woman and her partner(s) have completed treatment.
- That fertility is usually not affected in mild PID if it is treated promptly, but repeated episodes of PID are associated with an exponential increase in the risk of infertility.
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