Exams and Tests

Your health care provider will diagnose PID by taking your medical history, doing a physical exam, and ordering appropriate tests.

• Physical exam findings include the following:
  
  
  • A temperature greater than 101°F (38.3°C)
    
    
  • Abnormal vaginal discharge
    
    
  • Lower abdominal tenderness when felt
    
    
  • Tenderness when your cervix is moved
    
    
  • Tenderness in your female organs
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• Laboratory tests may include the following:
  
  
  • A urine pregnancy test if you are of childbearing age
    
    
  • Urinalysis to check for bladder and kidney infection
    
    
  • A complete blood count (although fewer than half of women with acute PID have a high white blood cell count indicating an infection)
    
    
  • Cervical cultures for gonorrhea and chlamydia
    
    
  • Testing for other sexually transmitted diseases, including syphilis and HIV
    
    
  • Additional tests if you have more severe symptoms
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• Imaging: A pelvic ultrasound, although not routinely done, can be an important tool in diagnosing complications such as tubo-ovarian abscesses, ovarian torsion, ovarian cysts, and ectopic pregnancy. Although unlikely to occur in pregnancy, PID is the most commonly missed diagnosis in ectopic pregnancies and can occur during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.
  
  
• Exploratory surgery: A woman's health specialist (a gynecologist) can use a laparoscope (a small tube with a camera attached) to make small incisions in and around your navel to view surrounding reproductive organs for inflammation. The doctor can also identify an ectopic pregnancy. Definitive care can then be provided from starting IV antibiotics to removing an ectopic pregnancy.