[Inflammation of the pelvis minor]

Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) is the must important gynecologic infectious disease. It causes not only serious clinical symptoms, life threatening complications, but also severe damage to the female upper reproductive tract. Among its important sequale are infertility due to tubal occlusion, ectopic pregnancy, dyspareunia, and chronic pelvic pain. The must important causative organisms are Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia trachomatis, as well as anaerobic and facultative bacteria found in the vaginal flora of women with bacterial vaginosis. The author reviews the latest developments regarding the epidemiology, etiology diagnostics, medical and surgical therapy of the disease. The importance and possibilities of prevention are discussed.