MANEJO LAPAROSCÓPICO DE LA ENFERMEDAD PÉLVICA INFLAMATORIA SEVERA: REPORTE DE TRES CASOS Y REVISIÓN DE LA LITERATURA.

Objective: carrying out a literature review about the usefulness of laparoscopy in treating tubo-ovarian abscesses in terms of improvement, hospital stay and subsequent fertility. Materials and methods: three cases of patients suffering from severe pelvic inflammatory disease are presented; they consulted at a private reference institution in Medellín, Colombia, and were then submitted to laparoscopy, accompanied by parenteral antibiotics as management. A search was made in the Medline database via PubMed using the following key words: "tubo-ovarian abscess, treatment, laparoscopy, fertility." A search was also made in classical texts on the subject and management guidelines. Results: 49 pertinent articles were found, of which 13 were relevant to the matter in hand; 8 were review articles, 4 were case-series and 1 was a retrospective cohort study. Conclusion: conservative laparoscopic management of tubo-ovarian abscess during the disease's initial period, accompanied by the appropriate antibiotic regime, emerged as an alternative which could improve short- and long-term results. High-quality studies are thus needed to confirm such observation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]