Diagnosis and treatment of acute salpingitis

Acute salpingitis is one of the most common acute gynecologic diseases and occurs in approximately 750,000 women each year in the United States. Use of laparoscopy to confirm the diagnosis of acute salpingitis has shown that the signs and symptoms classically ascribed to this disease are not specific to it. Fever, leukocytosis, elevated ESR and adnexal masses or swelling are not necessary to make a diagnosis of acute salpingitis. Lower abdominal pain and adnexal tenderness are the most consistent findings. Microbiologic data obtained by laparoscopy and culdocentesis have raised questions about the role of N. gonorrhoeae in salpingitis and have demonstrated that, as in pelvic infections generally, acute salpingitis is associated with mixed aerobic-anaerobic bacterial flora. Good results in the treatment of acute salpingitis depend upon: (1) early diagnosis, (2) hospitalization and bed rest, (3) the use of antibiotic therapy that takes into account the polymicrobial etiology of acute salpingitis, (4) prevention of recurrent episodes of salpingitis through efforts at patient education and identification and treatment of sexual partners. Most important, we must remember that what is at stake is often the future reproductive potential of a young woman. It must be weighed against both patient and physician convenience and cost. Further investigative efforts are essential to determine the role of IUDs in pelvic infections, discover the true microbiologic etiology of salpingitis and establish appropriate antimicrobial treatment as determined by prospective, microbiologically controlled investigations.