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May 24, 2013
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Infertility and Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID)


Infertility and Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID)

Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) increases your risk of infertility, usually from scarring in and around the fallopian tubes. Scarring, a result of inflammation, can block or twist the tubes so that neither sperm nor eggs can get through the tubes.

  • Tubal infertility develops in about 8% of women who have had PID once (compared with 1% of women who have never had PID).1
  • Infertility risk doubles or triples with each additional episode of PID.2

Most women who have blocked fallopian tubes do not remember ever having symptoms of PID. The evaluation and tests to diagnose infertility may show signs of a previous PID infection.

References

Citations

  1. Paavonen J, et al. (2008). Pelvic inflammatory disease. In KK Holmes et al., eds., Sexually Transmitted Diseases, 4th ed., pp. 1017–1050. New York: McGraw-Hill.

  2. Soper DE (2010). Infections of the female pelvis. In Mandell, Douglas and Bennett's Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases, 7th ed., vol. 1, pp. 1511–1519. Philadelphia: Churchill Livingstone Elsevier.

Credits

ByHealthwise Staff
Primary Medical ReviewerSarah Marshall, MD - Family Medicine
Specialist Medical ReviewerKirtly Jones, MD - Obstetrics and Gynecology
Last RevisedNovember 23, 2010

eMedicineHealth Medical Reference from Healthwise

This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use. How this information was developed to help you make better health decisions.

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