Two hundred and thirty-two patients with tubo-ovarian abscesses (TOAs) were evaluated. Ruptured TOAs were documented in seven (3%) of the patients. One hundred and seventy-five patients with TOAs were treated with antibiotics alone; for 15 of these patients, TOAs were confirmed by laparoscopy. The remaining 57 patients required surgical intervention: drainage (five patients), unilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (19) and total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (33). A unilateral TOA was present in 163 patients (70%). Seventy-six patients with TOAs used intrauterine contraceptive devices, and in this group, 54 (71%) patients had unilateral TOAs. The most common microorganisms that were recovered from these TOAs were Escherichia coli, Bacteroides fragilis, Bacteroides species, Peptostreptococcus, Peptococcus, and aerobic streptococci. Sixty-eight percent of the patients treated with an antimicrobial regimen that included clindamycin had a decrease in the size of the TOA, while only 36.5% of those receiving antimicrobial regimens without clindamycin had a decrease in the size of the TOA (P < .01). Long-term follow-up information (two to 10 years) was available for 58 of the patients treated with antibiotics alone. Eighteen (31%) required subsequent surgery; 12 had persistent TOAs; and six, chronic salpingooophoritis. Intrauterine pregnancy was documented in eight (13.8%) patients. Of the 19 patients treated with unilateral adnexectomy, two ultimately required hysterectomy and contralateral adnexectomy, while three patients in this group subsequently became pregnant (one ectopic and two intrauterine).