Is colposcopy painful?

Physical examination is a way to detect diseases in advance and minimize the damage they cause to the body. With the improvement of modern people's health awareness, more and more people have become aware of the need for physical examinations. Especially when feeling unwell, people usually take the initiative to go to the hospital for examination. Colposcopy is one of the most common gynecological examinations for women. Therefore, many women who value health preservation but are afraid of pain worry that this examination will cause pain to their bodies.

The main contents of colposcopy are to check whether the patient has infection, inflammation and cervical erosion. The process of colposcopy is similar to that of a probe operation. A soft tube can show the entire picture of the cervix and vagina.

After the colposcopy, it is best to clean it with a special lotion to avoid bacterial growth.

In addition, before the colposcopy, blood tests will be performed to determine whether there is hepatitis B, sexually transmitted diseases, etc.

Check steps

1. After the patient has emptied his bladder, he takes the lithotomy position and uses a vaginal speculum to expose the cervical vagina.

2. Use a cotton ball to gently wipe away cervical secretions and mucus.

3. Observe the shape, size, color, spots and growths of the cervix with the naked eye.

4. Turn on the lighting switch, adjust the objective lens to the same level as the examined part, adjust the distance of the objective lens, generally about 20 cm away from the cervix, and adjust the focal length of the objective lens until the image is clear. Use a 10x low-power microscope to roughly observe the shape, color, and blood vessels of the cervix under white light, and then use a high-power microscope to identify cervical lesions.

5. Use a cotton ball dipped in 3% to 5% acetic acid to rub the surface of the cervix. Under the action of acetic acid, the columnar epithelium swells and becomes slightly white and grape-like, while the squamous epithelium becomes slightly white without any grape-like changes. This can be used to distinguish between the squamous epithelium and the columnar epithelium. After 1 to 2 minutes, the color change will fully appear, and the suspicious lesion area should be carefully observed. If long-term observation is required, 3% to 5% acetic acid solution should be applied repeatedly every 3 to 5 minutes. In order to clearly observe the changes in blood vessel morphology, green filter lenses can be used for inspection. After the acetic acid test, the surface of the cervix is ​​smeared with compound iodine solution. The primitive squamous epithelium is stained dark brown, the columnar epithelium is not stained, and the metaplastic squamous epithelium shows different shades of staining depending on the degree of maturity of the metaplasia. The location and range of the lesion can be determined based on this. The negative area of ​​iodine test (unstained area) is the suspicious lesion site. A biopsy is taken from the negative area and sent for pathological examination.

Precautions

1. Do not use lubricant when inserting the vaginal speculum. The vaginal speculum should be inserted while dilating under direct vision to avoid scratching the cervix.

2. Patients with suspicious lesions should undergo biopsy under colposcopy.

3. Fully expose the cervical canal to avoid misdiagnosis and pay attention to those with inward migration of the transformation zone.

4. Selection of examination time: there is no time limit for suspected cervical cancer or cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. It is advisable to examine intracervical lesions close to or during the ovulation period. For other diseases, it is advisable to examine within 2 weeks after the end of menstruation.

5. Colposcopy cannot confirm the pathological tissue examination.

6. The combined use of colposcopy and cytology can reduce the missed diagnosis rate.