Burchell 1987

Methods	Randomized controlled trial.
Participants	Inclusion criteria: 40 women with PID established by blood sampling, laparoscopic, follow‐up clinical evaluations, and taking of microbiological specimens for culture done by same physician to ensure uniformity. Women had laparoscopic examination and microbiological cultures to confirm the clinical diagnosis of acute PID. Exclusion criteria: general peritonitis or with abdominal distension and absent bowel sounds; large pelvic masses extending into the abdomen; toxic; in poor general condition; pregnant (e.g. postabortal); and antibiotics in the 14 days before presentation. Number of women randomized: 30 women, 10 in each group. Number of women analyzed: 30 women, 10 in each group. Number of withdrawals/exclusions/loss to follow‐up and reasons: 10 women excluded because laparoscopic examination and microbiological cultures did not confirm the clinical diagnosis of acute PID. Number of centres: not stated. Age (years): not stated. Country: South Africa.
Interventions	Group A: doxycycline infusion 200 mg in 200 mL 5% dextrose over 2 h + doxycycline 100 mg after 24 h. The course was completed with oxytetracycline 250 mg every 6 h for 14 days. Group B: ampicillin + metronidazole every 6 h 1 g IV and then 500 mg PO every 6 h for 14 days. Group C: tetracycline + metronidazole with 3 × 1 g suppositories every 8 h and then 400 mg PO every 8 h for 14 days.
Outcomes	Primary outcome: clinical cure.
Notes	Ethical approval: not stated. Informed consent: yes, informed consent was obtained from all women. Source of funding: not stated, and no conflicts of interest reported.
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Not stated.
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Not stated.
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	Not stated.
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	Not stated.
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	Not stated.
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Unclear risk	No study protocol found.
Other bias	Unclear risk	No study group characteristics reported.