Search

Objective: To investigate the incidence of post-operative infection after first trimester abortion in women treated with a long-acting cephalosporin (ceftriaxone) compared with low risk patients receiving no treatment and with high risk patients receiving our standard treatment of ampicillin/pivampicillin and metronidazole., Design: A prospective, randomised controlled trial., Setting: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, Denmark., Subjects: Nine hundred and ninety-six women, admitted on an outpatient basis for legal termination of pregnancy at 12 weeks or less of gestation, were included in the study after giving informed consent. The women were divided into high risk and low risk categories and allocated either to treatment with ceftriaxone or to standard treatment. For high risk patients the standard treatment was initiated by a peroperative injection of ampicillin and metronidazole, followed by oral doses of metronidazole and pivampicillin three times daily for four days. No prophylactic antibiotics were given to the women randomised to standard treatment in the low risk group., Interventions: All women were kept under observation, and, between six and 14 days postoperatively, underwent pelvic examination. Clinical endpoints were noted., Main Outcome Measures: Post-operative pelvic inflammatory disease in women applying for legal first trimester abortion., Results: Seven hundred and eighty-six women fulfilled the criteria for evaluation. A tendency toward a prophylactic effect of ceftriaxone was observed in most clinical findings. A significant prophylactic effect of ceftriaxone was found in the low risk group., Conclusions: This study demonstrated a significant reduction in post-operative pelvic inflammatory disease in low risk patients, who were applying for legal first trimester abortion, treated peroperatively with ceftriaxone. No significant difference was demonstrated between high risk patients treated with ceftriaxone or ampicillin/pivampicillin and metronidazole.

Objective: To assess the prophylactic use of erythromycin in prevention of post-abortal pelvic inflammation disease (PID) in first trimester abortion., Design: Double-blind, randomized controlled trial., Setting: Department of Surgery, County Hospital, Denmark., Subjects: Four hundred and thirty two women who were to undergo induced abortion before 12 weeks gestation were randomized to be treated either with prophylactic erythromycin or a placebo., Intervention: The women were randomized to receive a placebo or erythromycin, 500 mg twice a day for 7 1/2 days starting the evening before the abortion. All the women were investigated for Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoea before the abortion., Main Outcome Measures: Frequency of cervical C. trachomatis and N. gonorrhoea and frequency of PID after abortion., Results: Fifty four women were excluded after randomization. The frequency of PID was 11% (20/189) in the erythromycin group and 16% (30/189) in the placebo group (P = 0.13, chi 2-test). The prevalence of C. trachomatis was 19% (15/78) in women less than or equal to 20 years of age, 13% (14/109) in women between 21 and 25 years and 2% (5/241) in women greater than or equal to 26 years of age. In women positive for C. trachomatis erythromycin prophylaxis significantly reduced the frequency of PID to 8% (1/13) compared with 43% (6/14) in the placebo group (P = 0.051, logistic regression analysis). Erythromycin had no effect on other potential high risk groups (first pregnancy, nulliparous, less than 20 years of age, and women with previous PID)., Conclusion: Prophylactic erythromycin is not warranted for all women having an abortion. Cervical C. trachomatis is a risk factor for postabortal PID, and prophylaxis with erythromycin significantly reduces the frequency of PID. However, only a few women with PID had cervical C. trachomatis, and the prevention of post-abortal PID remains a major challenge requiring further studies.

Most of the small increased risk in pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) associated with the intrauterine contraceptive device (IUCD) appears to be caused by bacterial contamination of the endometrial cavity at the time of insertion. This randomized clinical trial of 1813 women in Nairobi, Kenya, assessed the effectiveness of 200 mg of doxycycline given orally at the time of insertion in reducing the occurrence of PID. The rate of this infection in the doxycycline-treated group was 31% lower than that in the placebo-treated group (1.3 and 1.9%, respectively; RR 0.69; 95% CI 0.32 to 1.5). The rate of an unplanned IUCD-related visit to the clinic was also 31% lower in the doxycycline-treated group (RR 0.69; 95% CI 0.52 to 0.91). Although the significance level (P = 0.17) for the reduction is PID does not meet the conventional standard of 0.05, the results may be suggestive of an effect. Moreover, the reduction in IUCD-related visits (P = 0.004) not only represents an important decrease in morbidity but also substantiates the reduction found for PID. Further studies are needed to corroborate these results. Consideration should be given to the prophylactic use of doxycycline at the time of IUCD insertion as an approach to preventing PID and other IUCD-related morbidity.

Five hundred women were examined for lower genital tract infection before vaginal termination of pregnancy. Pre-operatively, Neisseria gonorrhoeae was isolated from nine women (1.8%); five of eight male partners also had gonorrhoea. All the women with gonorrhoea were treated at least 48 h pre-operatively with ampicillin and probenicid; three of them had symptoms of pelvic infection pre-operatively and one had symptoms postoperatively. Of these women, 120 (24%) had a follow-up examination within 47 days of abortion; 15 (3%) required an evacuation of retained products of conception and only 12 (2%) had mild suspected pelvic infection. Screening for Neisseria gonorrhoeae and treatment pre-operatively prevented pelvic infection in a further eight patients.

A case-control study was performed on 94 women with acute salpingitis and 12 women with salpingitis and perihepatitis; all patients included in the study were infected with Chlamydia trachomatis, and all had been subjected to diagnostic laparoscopy. None of the 12 patients with, but 38 (40%) of the 94 patients without, perihepatitis used oral contraceptives (P = 0.002). The geometric mean titre of serum IgG antibodies to C. trachomatis was higher among patients with (1:1021) than among patients without (1:69) perihepatitis (P = 0.0001). Oral contraceptive users had lower geometric mean titre of antibodies to the organism (1:25) than non-users (1:109, P = 0.001). The study suggests that oral contraceptive use may modify the clinical manifestations of chlamydial pelvic inflammatory disease.

Talampicillin, cephalexin and clindamycin were administered orally, and ampicillin, cephazolin, clindamycin and spectinomycin intramuscularly as preoperative medication to 49 women who were having an abdominal hysterectomy. Antibiotic levels in serum, myometrium or cervix, and Fallopian tube were estimated. Antibiotic absorption from the gastrointestinal tract was delayed, but intramuscular therapy produced serum levels compatible with those reported in ambulant volunteers. None of the antibiotics produced a concentration which inhibited all the potential pathogens causing pelvic inflammatory disease. Inhibitory concentrations were produced by cephazolin except against Bacteroides; by clindamycin except against enterobacteria; by ampicillin except against Bacteroides and enterobacteria; and by spectinomycin except against resistant strains of streptococci. The need for a reassessment of dose regimens and route of administration as well as the possible need for using two antibiotics together for the treatment of pelvic inflammatory disease is suggested.