What are the symptoms of pelvic inflammatory disease?
The major symptoms of PID are lower abdominal pain and abnormal vaginal discharge. Other symptoms such as fever, pain in the right upper abdomen, painful intercourse, and irregular menstrual bleeding can occur as well. PID, particularly when caused by chlamydia, may produce only minor symptoms or no symptoms at all, even though it can seriously damage the reproductive organs. Women with “atypical pelvic inflammatory disease” experience only mild symptoms, unrecognized symptoms, or possibly, in many cases no symptoms (“silent pelvic inflammatory disease”). This more indolent but insidious form of pelvic inflammatory disease is less likely to be detected compared to symptomatic pelvic inflammatory disease, thus placing unsuspecting women at increased risk of disease sequelae.
