Diagnosing Cervical Cancer Using the Colposcope
Cervical cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths among women aside from breast cancer. Cancer of the cervix can be diagnosed by using the Pap smear test, where the gynaecologist would look for cancerous or malignant abnormalities in the tissue sample taken from the patient’s cervix. Women who are sexually active are advised to undergo Pap smear testing regularly because the prostaglandin substance found in semen could cause the growth of tumors in the cervix or the surrounding areas. However, Pap smear testing or other cervical biopsies might be dangerous for pregnant women since it might lead to miscarriage. For a safer examination of the cervix, the gynaecologist would use a colposcope.
Colposcopy is done by using a biological microscope to examine the cervix so that samples need not be taken for the gynaecologist to see if there is cancerous growth or tumors in the cervix. A colposcope is a low-power microscope that has a pair of eyepieces for the gynaecologist to look into. The lenses of this operating microscope point straight out towards where the patient would be lying down instead of downwards as with an ordinary microscope. The illuminating lamp of the colposcope point forward as well. The colposcope can be attached to a camera, which can take records of the findings that the gynaecologist might be able to see under the colposcope lens, as well as a monitor, where the gynaecologist can project what they are seeing under the colposcope so that the patient would be able to follow the examination process.
The procedure itself requires the patient to lie back in the same position as with a Pap smear test, which is the dorsal lithotomy position. The gynaecologist would then use a speculum to open up the vagina and examine if there are any abnormalities like lesions inside. An iodine solution is used sometimes to mark the parts of the cervix and the surrounding areas where lesions or tumors are detected by the gynaecologist. The discovery of tumors or any such growth in the cervix doesn’t mean that the patient has cervical cancer, however. In this case, a biopsy would be performed for the gynaecologist to be able to examine the tissues bearing possible cancerous cells more closely under the microscope. If there is any kind of abnormal growth detected under colposcopy, the gynaecologist would perform Loop Diathermy to remove the possible cancerous tissues and see if there are signs of the patient having cancer of the cervix. The biopsy and possible extraction would be done under local anaesthesia and would be followed by endocervical curettage (ECC) wherein the gynaecologist would scrape the cervical canal using a curette.
Unless biopsy is performed while under cervical examination, there are no complications that can result from colposcopy. Because operations like ECC might cause miscarriages and infections, colposcopy is especially useful as to cervical examinations done to pregnant women and can be considered a safe way of looking at the cervix accurately.
