Oophoritis - Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Complications

Introduction

Oophoritis is not a very common condition. Oophoritis is characterized by the inflammation of the content of one or both ovaries, which leads to the inflammation of the ovaries as a whole. The ovaries contain oocytes. The ovaries can also have cysts. So in simple terms, oophoritis means inflammation of one or both ovaries.

What Is Oophoritis?

Oophoritis is characterized by the inflammation of the content of one or both ovaries, which leads to the enlargement of ovaries, and cysts are also evident in the ovaries. The ovaries contain oocytes. Often, oophoritis is seen as the manifestation of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). The inflammation of the fallopian tube can also accompany oophoritis. When this happens, the condition is then called salpingo oophoritis. Oophoritis is often seen along with the inflammation of the fallopian tube and is often seen along with PID hence the most common term used to refer to oophoritis is salpingo oophoritis or PID.

What Are the Causes of Oophoritis?

Oophoritis is seen in younger women below 25 years of age. Oophoritis is often accompanied by the inflammation of fallopian tubes, ovarian cysts, and pelvic inflammatory disease. They can have multiple causes.

Some of the commonly known reasons for oophoritis are,

• Sexually transmitted infections (STI) like chlamydia and gonorrhea can lead to oophoritis.

• Bacterial infections are the most common known cause of oophoritis.

• Bacterial infections are more prone to happen while inserting intrauterine devices (IUD) for contraception in a wrong misguided way.

• Bacterial infections can happen while delivering a baby.

• After having an abortion.

• After a miscarriage.

• There is another common cause of oophoritis. That is called autoimmune oophoritis. The causes of autoimmune oophoritis are not known yet.

• Unmanaged pelvic inflammatory disease can lead to oophoritis and salpingo oophoritis.

What Are the Signs and Symptoms of Oophoritis?

The initial signs and symptoms are too inevitable for the affected person to notice. The mild symptoms of discomfort usually subsided after douching. The persons are known to report to the emergency room after experiencing severe pain in the pelvic area.

Some of the common signs and symptoms are as follows:

• Abdominal discomfort and pain in the pelvic region.

• Heavy menstrual bleeding.

• Bleeding on the days in between periods.

• Difficulty during urination.

• Burning sensation in the vaginal area during urination.

• Abnormal amount of vaginal discharge.

• Foul-smelling vaginal discharge.

• Pain or bleeding after sexual intercourse.

If the patient experiences any of the symptoms mentioned above, a gynecologist or a general physician must be consulted for further diagnosis and management.

If left unmanaged or undiagnosed, the symptoms mentioned above are known to progress into severe pain in the pelvic area, and it can be accompanied by the following other symptoms such as,

• Fever.

• Chills.

• Nausea or vomiting.

How Is Oophoritis Diagnosed?

In most cases, the person affected by oophoritis often ignores the mild initial symptoms. The person affected by oophoritis often reports to the emergency room after experiencing excruciating abdominal pain.

• The general physician or the gynecologist will first do a physical examination of the pelvic region.

• The doctor will then suggest some blood tests to determine the count of white blood cells (WBC count) to detect the presence of any infection or inflammation in the body.

• Urinary tests are also advised to detect any infection or inflammation, cystitis.

• Ultrasonography of the pelvic region is often advised to view the internal organs. Both transabdominal and transvaginal view is done to determine the causes of the pain. Ultrasonography checks the ovaries for any inflammation or cysts.

• The doctor does some pelvic examinations to look for the signs of pelvic inflammatory disease.

• Laparoscopy is a widely used imaging technique where the doctor inserts a lighted device into the body to view the internal organs. Laparoscopy examines the fallopian tubes to detect any inflammation or blocks in the fallopian tubes. In this case, laparoscopy is done to view the fallopian tubes, and any blockages can be removed.

What Are Treatment Methods for Oophoritis?

The treatments and management of oophoritis depend upon the causes, symptoms, and severity.

• If oophoritis is caused by any STIs, then antimicrobials such as antibiotics are prescribed for a few days by the physician until improvement occurs.

• The person who has contracted STI is counseled to use contraceptive devices such as condoms to prevent future infections and complications.

• Other infections are treated with oral or intravenous antibiotics depending upon their severity.

• Painkillers are prescribed to help the person relieve pain.

• When a patient does not seem to improve after 48 to 72 hours of administering antibiotics, then surgical intervention is preferred.

• Laparoscopic methods can do a surgical intervention. Surgical intervention depends upon the severity of oophoritis.

• The surgical method of draining abscesses and infections.

• Surgeries are done in a way to preserve the fertility of the person for bearing a child in the future, as oophoritis is often seen to affect young women.

• In cases of autoimmune oophoritis, hormone replacement therapy is given until improvement occurs.

What Are the Complications of Oophoritis?

Oophoritis, if treated well, can be cured during the initial stages by simple antibiotic treatment.

• If left untreated, oophoritis can damage the fallopian tubes. Damaged fallopian tubes increase the risk of ectopic pregnancies.

• An infected abscess burst can lead to sepsis, a life-threatening situation that can be caused due to untreated oophoritis.

• Untreated oophoritis or delayed management of oophoritis can cause scarring or blockages, which can make it harder to conceive. However, these blockages can be removed by surgical intervention.

• If a surgeon cannot remove the blockages, then in vitro fertilization (IVF) is the method used to help a person bear a baby.

• Untreated oophoritis can lead to fertility issues. When oophoritis affects both the ovaries severely, then an egg donor might be required for a person to conceive.

Conclusion

Early diagnosis and treatment can help with a cure and help the person preserve their chances of conceiving. Safe sexual intercourse and limiting the number of sexual partners can also help prevent STIs and oophoritis. Autoimmune oophoritis does not have any cure. However, the doctor can help manage the symptoms, and there are several recent advances in the scientific field that can help the person conceive.