Diagnosis of Pelvic Inflammatory Disease

There are no specific tests for pelvic inflammatory disease. Pelvic inflammatory disease often is hard to diagnose because the symptoms can be mild. Many cases of pelvic inflammatory disease are not diagnosed because the woman or her health care provider think mild symptoms are nothing or are caused by something other than pelvic inflammatory disease. To diagnose pelvic inflammatory disease, health care providers will perform physical exams, including a pelvic exam, check for fever, look for abnormal vaginal or cervical discharge, and test for gonorrhea and chlamydia.

If the health care provider wants more information, she or he may order other tests. A pelvic ultrasound may be done to view the pelvic area to see whether the fallopian tubes are enlarged or an infection is present. Sometimes a laparoscopy may be needed. This is a minor surgical procedure where a thin tube with a light at the end (laparoscope) is inserted into the lower abdomen. This allows the surgeon to view the internal pelvic organs and take specimens, or tissue samples, for laboratory studies if needed.