ACUTE PELVIC INFECTION FOLLOWING HYSTEROSALPINGOGRAPHY AT THE KENYATTA-NATIONAL-HOSPITAL, NAIROBI

A total of 150 women who had hysterosalpingography (HSG) for investiga tion or infertility, at the Kenyatta National Hospital over a five mon th period, were recruited into the study to determine the prevalence o f pelvic infection following the procedure. 44.0% of the total study g roup developed pelvic infection disease (PID) within the first week af ter the procedure. There were no obvious determining factors. It is po ssible that most women with infertility have quiescent genital tract i nfection, prior to HSG, with the latter only facilitating the entry of micro-organisms into the upper genital tract, thus causing pelvic inf ection or reactivating a pre-existing infections. Further studies shou ld be conducted to determine the microbial patterns of the infection. There should be routine provision of prophylactic antimicrobial agent( s) to all women undergoing HSG in our unit to minimise the risk of dev eloping pelvic infection and further damage to the uterine tubes which will worsen the prognosis.