Endometrial Cultures in Acute Pelvic Inflammatory Disease

OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to investigate the correlation of endometrial culture results with the clinical diagnosis of acute pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). METHODS A total of 130 patients admitted with the clinical diagnosis of acute PID were prospectively enrolled in this study. Endometrial cultures by transcervical aspirate currette were obtained from all patients. RESULTS Of 130 patients, 114 were discharged with a clinical diagnosis of PID. Of these 114 patients, 112 had positive endometrial cultures for pathogenic organisms. The correlation between endometrial culture results and the clinical diagnosis of acute PID was 98.2%. When patients with only mycoplasmas in the endometrial cavity were excluded, the correlation between endometrial culture results and the clinical diagnosis of acute PID was 93.8%. CONCLUSION These data demonstrate the exceedingly high degree of correlation between endometrial culture results and the clinical diagnosis of acute PID. Therefore, endometrial cultures may serve as a useful adjunct in the evaluation of patients with a clinical diagnosis of acute PID.