Oophoritis is a disease of the female reproductive system, a complex pathological process that occurs in the tissues of paired female genital glands in medicine.
The content of the article:
Causes of inflammation
Symptoms of ovarian inflammation
Diagnosis of ovarian inflammation
Treatment of ovarian inflammation
Oophorite
Women’s health is a very sensitive topic. Often, the constraint that every woman undoubtedly experiences when faced with problems and diseases of the reproductive system prevents her from preventing the disease in time, avoiding complications, and facilitating the process of treatment and recovery. This is quite natural. Indeed, not every woman can, forgetting about the awkwardness, tell even a doctor about her gynecological problems. But after all, girls have been taught by their mothers and grandmothers since childhood that it is possible and even necessary to tell their doctor everything about women’s health. A woman’s negligent attitude to her health can have very deplorable consequences. This should definitely make you visit the gynecological office once again.
There are a lot of diseases that affect the pelvic organs. Each ailment has its own characteristics, symptoms, a number of possible complications, causes and, most importantly, treatment methods. The most common diseases affecting the pelvic organs occur as a result of the inflammatory process. To put it simply, it is an inflammation of the ovaries, which in the vast majority of cases accompanies the inflammatory process in the fallopian tubes. Sometimes the vagina, bladder and organs adjacent to the source of inflammation may be involved in the inflammatory process: kidneys, intestines.
For quite a long time in medicine, one term was used for inflammation of the female appendages — adnexitis. Depending on the location of the infection focus, it was referred to as left-sided, right-sided or bilateral adnexitis. But in recent years, the term oophoritis (inflammation of the ovary) or salpingitis (inflammation of the fallopian tubes) has become more popular and accurate, from the point of view of diagnosis. Since ovarian oophoritis is extremely rare as an independent disease, doctors are increasingly using such a diagnostic term as salpingoophoritis. This diagnosis indicates that the appendages of the uterus are involved in the pathological process: ovaries and fallopian tubes.
Causes of inflammation
The ovary, due to its structure and location, cannot be a focus of primary infection. Therefore, the causes of inflammation should be sought in other organs of the reproductive system. Most often, the infection enters the ovary from the fallopian tubes, uterus or cervical canal. The cause of the dysfunction and structure of the tissues of the fallopian tubes and ovaries are the causative agents of sexually transmitted diseases (gonorrhea, syphilis, trichomoniasis, candidiasis, herpes, chlamydia, mycoplasmosis, trichomoniasis). Conditionally pathogenic microflora (streptococci, staphylococci, E. coli) can also provoke inflammation of the genitals. In this case, pathogenic bacteria penetrate through the uterine cavity into the fallopian tube, and then into the ovary itself. Less often, the infection enters the ovarian tissue through blood and lymph. Tuberculosis, angina, appendicitis are diseases that are quite capable of causing a violation of the robot appendages of the uterus and provoke a powerful inflammatory process. It is also necessary to treat with caution the use of intrauterine spirals and tampons, because violation of hygiene rules can contribute to the development of pathogenic microflora in the vaginal cavity and uterus.
But this list of reasons is far from complete. Apparently, nature has decided that there are still few dangers in the form of microbes and pathogenic bacteria for women’s health. Bathing in cold water, sitting on a cold surface, wet and frozen feet, as well as the notorious “naked across” — all this contributes to hypothermia of both the whole body and the pelvic organs. Also, inflammation may occur against the background of general malaise or weakened immunity. It is worth avoiding unprotected and promiscuous sexual contacts, as this is fraught not only with oophoritis, but also with other serious diseases. In the conditions of modern life, it is impossible not to attribute stress, unbalanced diets, a sedentary lifestyle to the causes of inflammation of the genitals. Visceral obesity also carries a great danger to women’s health. The inflammatory process can still occur due to unprofessional examination of the genitals or abortions.
When an infection enters the fallopian tube, it provokes a violation of the integrity of its tissues. The tube begins to thicken and lengthen, soon pus begins to stand out and scar tissue appears. If you do not start treatment at this stage, then the same fate will befall the ovaries. Oophoritis, the causes of which are described above, is easily treatable if you listen to your body, pay attention to its symptoms in time and regularly conduct gynecological examinations.
Symptoms of ovarian inflammation
Ovarian inflammation can occur in acute, subacute and chronic forms. Each form is characterized by special symptoms and the course of the disease. In the acute form of inflammation, there is an increase in temperature to 39 degrees, severe acute pains in the iliac region of the abdomen, frequent and painful urination, sharp pain during sexual intercourse. Alarming signs of oophoritis are abundant purulent discharge and bleeding, which indicate that the ovary and fallopian tube are severely affected by infection and begin to rot. If you do not seek medical help in time, then perhaps the doctor will have to resort to surgical removal of the uterine appendages to eliminate the problem. And this in turn will cause infertility. Also, the consequence of the purulent process in the ovaries and fallopian tubes is the formation of scars. Due to scar tissue, an egg that has matured in the ovary cannot enter the uterine cavity through the fallopian tube, which excludes the possibility of its fertilization.
The subacute form of oophoritis is much less common than acute or chronic. It occurs as a result of infection of the body with pathogenic bacteria that infect other organs or systems: tuberculosis, mycosis.
Oophoritis turns into a chronic form if the disease has not been treated or the treatment method was chosen incorrectly at the initial stages. Chronic oophoritis, the symptoms of which are expressed rather weakly and blurred, is difficult to diagnose. Often women do not even pay attention to such signs as loss of strength, constant fatigue, poor sleep, irritability, decreased libido, menstrual irregularity, poor discharge and periodic dull pains in the lower abdomen. All this is attributed to physical and psychological stress, stress, sedentary lifestyle, lack of sleep. Treatment of chronic oophoritis is quite complicated and takes much more time and money than acute or subacute.
Oophoritis, the symptoms of which are similar to many diseases, is in all cases accompanied by pain syndrome. If the reproductive organs are affected on the left side, the pain will be concentrated in the left iliac region of the abdomen, if on the right — in the right iliac region. But in the case of damage to both fallopian tubes and ovaries, the pain can cover the entire area of the lower abdomen.
Diagnosis of ovarian inflammation
When the above symptoms appear, a woman should first seek advice from a gynecologist. A primary gynecological examination will give an idea of whether there are visible violations of the structure and integrity of the tissues of the genitals. The doctor is obliged to collect the gynecological history of the patient. Information about previously transmitted infectious, venereal diseases, childbirth, abortion, sexual relations and lifestyle in general will help you choose the right direction in the diagnosis of the disease.
A smear on the flora from the vagina, urethra, and cervical canal plays a very important role in the diagnosis. This analysis allows us to establish the presence of pathogenic bacteria, which provoke the inflammatory process.
Most likely, for a more complete picture, the gynecologist will prescribe a general urine and blood test. An important indicator in the results of the analysis will be an increased number of white blood cells in biological fluids. This will once again confirm that the body is being attacked by an infection.
It is necessary to undergo an ultrasound examination of the pelvic organs. Ultrasound examination will show the presence of changes in the shape and structure of the female genital organs, an increase in the ovaries and a change in their contours.
If all the studies carried out could not confirm the alleged diagnosis, then the doctor prescribes hysterosalpingoscopy (examination of the uterine cavity and fallopian tubes using contrast solutions) or diagnostic laparoscopy.
Based on these tests and other procedures, the doctor can establish an accurate diagnosis of the patient: bilateral oophoritis, right-sided oophoritis or left-sided oophoritis.
Treatment of ovarian inflammation
Women who are faced with diseases of the genitals should not delay and let the disease take its course. And even more so, you should not experience all the well-known folk remedies. Douching with a decoction of chamomile, sedentary baths of celandine or calendula infusion have never made anyone worse, but these are more means of prevention than treatment. At the slightest feeling of discomfort in the pelvic organs, you should make an appointment with a gynecologist. After all, it is much easier to prevent the disease and find out about the violation of the genital organs in time than to treat a neglected disease.
Statistics say that 20-25% of women suffering from chronic, acute bilateral oophoritis or who have suffered from these diseases have experienced difficulties in sexual life for a long time and cannot get pregnant. There are also many cases when a woman completely loses the ability to reproduce. Treatment is prescribed by a doctor individually for each patient, taking into account the stage of the disease, the nature of the course of inflammation, concomitant diseases and the tolerability of medications.
So how to treat oophoritis? Treatment of the acute stage of oophoritis should be carried out under the strict supervision of the attending physician at the hospital. Without fail, a woman must adhere to bed rest, protect herself from physical and nervous overstrain. In the first days of treatment, cooling compresses, antibiotics and painkillers are prescribed. It is also recommended to take vitamins, minerals, micro- and macroelements in combination with a balanced diet. Physiological procedures have proved to be a good effect for the treatment of acute and chronic inflammatory processes.
Treatment of chronic oophoritis is more difficult and the results will have to wait much longer. It is chronic 2-sided oophoritis that is the main threat to women of childbearing age. If there is no positive dynamics after intensive therapy and drug treatment, then, most likely, the only chance to completely get rid of this problem is surgical intervention. The removal of appendages is still resorted to in cases of frequent and painful relapses of both 2-sided and right- and left-sided oophoritis. But doctors resort to this only if the treatment does not give proper results and the inflammation threatens serious complications, the risk of infection of neighboring organs or is dangerous to the patient’s life.
It is worth remembering that in addition to drug treatment, additional non-drug treatment with folk remedies is often prescribed. But it should also be attributed to the attending physician. Candles based on herbs, bee products (chamomile, celandine, calendula, sea buckthorn, propolis) have a beneficial effect on the microflora of the genitals and have anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects. There is one fundamental difference in the treatment of chronic and acute ovarian inflammation. In the first case, the stomach should be protected and kept warm, make warm compresses, baths with the addition of chamomile decoction, it is useful to wrap the lumbar region with a warm belt. In the case of acute oophoritis, only cold compresses are shown, and hot baths are strictly prohibited. Increased humidity and heat contribute to the reproduction of microbes.
Oophoritis, the treatment of which takes a lot of time, effort and money, is easier to prevent. You can protect yourself from this disease by observing several important rules: avoid hypothermia, stress, unprotected sexual acts, do not neglect the rules of personal hygiene and regular gynecological examinations.
