Salpingitis
Salpingitis is an inflammation of the fallopian tubes, which is caused by bacterial pathogens. This disease is very common and occurs in 30% of women. The course of the disease can have different levels of complications, so there are several forms of salpingitis: latent, acute, chronic. Acute salpingitis is characterized by piercing pains in the abdomen, mild chills and all signs of poisoning. Both chronic salpingitis and an acute form of the disease can lead to reproductive dysfunction and constant pain in the genitals. It is possible to diagnose salpingitis by examining smears and resorting to echography, bacterioscopic and bacteriological diagnostic methods. If the development of salpingitis provoked the appearance of purulent formations, then laparoscopy should be performed. This disease usually does not affect the fallopian tube, but immediately acquires a bilateral character, affecting the muscle tissues of the walls of both tubes.
The content of the article:
Causes of salpingitis
Symptoms of salpingitis
Diagnosis of salpingitis
Treatment of salpingitis
Prognosis and prevention of salpingitis
Salpingitis
Causes of salpingitis
The manifestation of the disease is most often observed during puberty of girls. The causes that contribute to the development of salpingitis are classified according to the type of origin:
mechanical causes are injuries, all kinds of damage to the mucous membrane caused during childbirth, during the abortion procedure and any other manipulations that involve intervention in the uterine cavity. Abortions and childbirth pose a particular threat to the further development of latent salpingitis. During such manipulations, the infection from the uterus is able to pass into its tubes and develop there absolutely asymptomatically.;
the causes of bacterial origin are various infections, bacteria and fungi. The main causative agents of salpingitis are gonococci, staphylococci and streptococci. In 12% of women, the development of the disease is provoked by the presence of tuberculosis bacillus in the body. Often, the cause of salpingitis is Frenkel’s diplococci, actinomycosis, syphilis and E. coli. The penetration of infection into the female body is carried out in various ways, depending on their spread in a particular territory. In cities with widespread gonorrhea infection, this disease provoked the manifestation of salpingitis in almost half of women.
During the diagnosis of the disease, it is necessary to take into account all possible variants of getting infectious pathogens into the uterine tubes. For example, a gonococcal infection known as gonorrhea enters the fallopian tubes through the mucous membrane of the endometrium of the uterine cavity. Difficulties arise in determining the development of salpingitis caused by tuberculosis bacillus. The difficulty of diagnosis lies in the fact that the infection could get into the tubes of the uterus both through the lymph nodes and through the blood vessels.
Symptoms of salpingitis
Most often, the primary symptoms of the disease appear after the end of menstrual discharge or during a change of sexual partner. Men are often the carriers of infection, even when gonorrhea is a thing of the past.
The presence of gonorrhea infection in the body is indicated by the initial manifestations of the disease: uncontrolled discharge and frequent urination. One of the first signs of the possible development of salpingitis are complaints from patients about painful sensations during sexual intercourse. Further diagnostics often confirmed the fears of specialists.
Purulent salpingitis develops very rapidly and is accompanied by increased body temperature, chills, sharp pains in the abdomen and discharge of purulent clots during urination. The presence of pus leads to intoxication, manifested by fatigue, dryness of the oral cavity and accompanied by a rapid heartbeat. Also, most patients have disorders in the nervous system and emotional state. The main manifestation of purulent salpingitis is the discharge of purulent whites during frequent and painful urination. Often, patients have a violation of the functionality of the rectum, which manifests itself in the form of liquid stool.
Inflammation caused by chlamydia does not have such pronounced symptoms, but women have fever, the presence of pathological pain and disorders of urination disorders. The disease caused by this pathogen has a very negative effect on the further functioning of a woman’s body. After recovery, the patients had cases of ectopic pregnancy, non-performance of reproductive function.
Subacute salpingitis is characterized by an improvement in the patient’s condition, but this does not mean that a full recovery has occurred. The disease can turn into a chronic form and proceed already with a satisfactory general condition of the body, an acceptable temperature, but with the manifestation of periodic abdominal pain. Under the influence of stressful situations, hypothermia, chronic salpingitis can give serious complications and contribute to the development of pyosalpinx. This is a very complex disease that causes fever, purulent intoxication and requires immediate treatment and supervision by specialists. Rupture of purulent accumulation leads to diffuse peritonitis.
Diagnosis of salpingitis
Diagnosis of salpingitis consists in the study of tumors that cause painful sensations. In order to correctly diagnose salpingitis and its form, it is necessary to determine the presence of infectious diseases in a woman, which caused the development of the disease. Usually salpingitis in young girls occurs from the presence of tuberculosis bacillus, and unborn women with regular sexual activity are more likely to suffer from gonorrheal pathogens. To determine the nature of the infectious pathogen, it is necessary to analyze the discharge from the uterine cavity.
Pain in the lower abdomen is often confused with an attack of appendicitis, so you need to pay attention to the fact that salpingitis causes pain in the depth of the pelvis, and not just in the lower right side. Sometimes the disease is diagnosed simultaneously with ectopic pregnancy.
Diagnosis of salpingitis begins with the patient’s life data, her complaints about well-being and an initial examination by a gynecologist. To confirm the diagnosis, a microscopy of vaginal smears is necessarily performed, bacteriological crops are studied, which makes it possible to identify an infectious pathogen and correctly prescribe further treatment. To establish the level of patency of the uterine tubes, it is necessary to conduct a metrosalpingography and examine the pelvic organs using ultrasound. Diagnostic laparoscopy can be used to completely exclude acute appendicitis, ovarian apoplexy and ectopic pregnancy.
Treatment of salpingitis
The nature of the treatment of the disease directly depends on the symptoms and the stage of its development. Timely treatment of acute salpingitis will give its results within ten days and will not allow it to turn into a chronic form. Under no circumstances should you start self-treatment without consulting a doctor earlier. Improper use of drugs can lead to serious complications: irreversible changes in the uterine tubes, infertility and possible surgical intervention.
The intervention of surgeons occurs exclusively with the formation of tumors on the tubes, the presence of adhesive processes in them, the accumulation of fluid between the fallopian tube and adhesions, the treatment of infertility. Today, new technologies of surgical intervention are available to medicine, so most operations are performed by laparoscopic method, which is considered the most accurate and low-traumatic. Resorting to this type of surgery, it is possible to eliminate many pathologies of the uterine tubes without provoking the development of new adhesive processes. Minilaparoscopic treatment leaves a very small puncture on the woman’s body, without spoiling the beautiful female body with postoperative scars. The main task during the operation is the removal of purulent secretions, the removal of uterine tube tissues that are affected by adhesions, and the installation of a special drainage system. Laparoscopic treatment allows a woman to go home three days after surgery, but the recovery processes will last up to two weeks. At the same time, doctors advise patients to temporarily abandon sexual acts and visit a gynecological office at least once every 3 months.
Prognosis and prevention of salpingitis
Salpingitis refers to those diseases that have unfavorable prognoses even in the case of a complete cure. The disease throughout the entire functioning of the reproductive system makes itself felt. The neglected form of salpingitis has repeatedly caused the death of a woman from inflammation of the abdominal cavity.
The transfer of the disease leaves its fingerprints on the functionality of the reproductive system: patients cannot become pregnant for a long time or ectopic pregnancy is observed. Sexual and menstrual functions suffer very much, since even after full recovery, a woman can still feel pain in the pelvic organs for a long time, which provoke adhesive processes. It is almost impossible to completely restore the affected fallopian tubes, but in most cases the prognosis for the restoration of a woman’s ability to work is favorable.
To avoid the appearance of salpingitis, it is necessary to take care of any interventions and manipulations in the vagina and uterus. From a young age, it is necessary to explain to children about the need to use condoms during sexual contact and promote safe sex.
Special attention should be paid to the hygienic care of the external genitals in order to prevent the pathogen from entering from the external environment. Absolutely every woman is obliged to visit a gynecologist twice a year, which will allow to detect inflammation in the early stages and eliminate the infectious pathogen in time.
