Does pelvic inflammatory disease in women really affect fertility?

  Pelvic inflammatory disease in women includes acute pelvic inflammatory disease and chronic pelvic inflammatory disease. The former manifests as fever, abdominal pain, abnormal vaginal discharge, etc. Chronic pelvic inflammatory disease, on the other hand, has less obvious symptoms and may manifest as lumbosacral pain, vague pain in the lower abdomen, irregular menstruation, infertility, or no symptoms.  Infertility is a form of pelvic inflammatory disease, which means that pelvic inflammatory disease can affect fertility.  Chronic pelvic inflammatory disease is often a prolonged state that occurs when acute pelvic inflammatory disease is not adequately treated. The pelvic tissue undergoes exudation, hyperplasia and adhesions under the action of inflammatory cells and inflammatory factors, which will cause adhesions, blockage and fluid retention in the fallopian tubes. If the fallopian tubes, the magpie bridge for sperm and egg to meet and fertilize, malfunction, fertilization cannot be completed, thus leading to infertility. Also chronic endometritis, as part of pelvic inflammatory disease, interferes with embryo implantation in the endometrium and will also decrease the probability of pregnancy or lead to infertility.  When taking medical history, we often ask patients if they have had pelvic and abdominal surgery, miscarriage/cleaning, history of tuberculosis, unclean sex, etc., which are actually the main causes of pelvic inflammatory disease. If there is a history of these surgeries or medical history, we need to first consider whether tubal factors are the main factor leading to infertility, and at the same time, simultaneous treatment of endometritis.  Chronic pelvic inflammatory disease is basically incurable, just as chronic pharyngitis and chronic rhinitis are. For whether the fallopian tubes are affected, we usually determine by tubal imaging. In severe cases of pelvic adhesions, the fallopian tubes often show bilateral obstruction, fluid accumulation, little and limited contrast diffusion, and sometimes it is even impossible to restore the normal anatomical position and shape of the fallopian tubes through surgery, and if there is a requirement for fertility, it can only be solved by in vitro fertilization at this time. For chronic endometritis, we usually determine it by a combination of hysteroscopy, endometrial pathology and immunohistochemistry for CD38 and CD138 factors. After the diagnosis of endometritis is confirmed, a combination of medications, physical therapy and acupuncture will be used for comprehensive treatment.