Asymptomatic salpingitis in intrauterine contraceptive device users

Serial histological sections of the fallopian tubes of 50 asymptomatic subjects undergoing voluntary tubal ligation were evaluated for morphological evidence of inflammation. Twenty-five subjects had history of IUD use (the study group) and the rest 25 had never used a device (the control group). Evidence of inflammation was found in 11 out of 25 subjects in the IUD users compared to only 2 out of 25 subjects in the non-users (p less than 0.001). The relative risk was 5.5 times. Both acute and chronic inflammation of the oviducts were observed more often in the IUD users, though clinically and at surgery there was no apparent evidence of pelvic inflammatory disease.