title: Pelvic inflammatory disease and sepsis.
abstract: Pelvic inflammatory disease affects approximately 1 million women per year in the United States alone and has a variety of causative organisms. Because the diagnosis of PID is based on clinical judgment, health care providers need to be guided by the CDC recommendations for diagnosing and treating PID. Because presenting symptoms are often vague, the health care provider should assess female patients for risky behaviors that may lead to PID and should use screening data when making clinical judgments and differential diagnoses. Whenever possible, female patients with PID should be treated as outpatients. If diagnosis and treatment are not performed in a timely manner, PID may cause sepsis, septic shock, and even death. Even if they survive, as many as 15% to 20% of these women experience long-term sequelae of PID, such as ectopic pregnancy, tubo-ovarian abscess, infertility, dyspareunia, and chronic pelvic pain. The best treatments for PID are interventions that lead to prevention and early detection. The critical care nurse has an important role in recognizing the variables that may lead to PID-related sepsis and in encouraging health-seeking and health-maintenance behaviors among women with these diagnoses.
authors.affiliation: College of Nursing, University of Cincinnati, PO Box 210038, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA. Judy.Dulin@uc.edu
authors.forename: Judy D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Dulin
authors.forename: Mary C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Akers
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D000292:Pelvic Inflammatory Disease / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000451:nursing; D012307:Risk Factors; D018805:Sepsis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology*; D012749:Sexually Transmitted Diseases / Q000451:nursing / Q000517:prevention & control
chemical_list: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents