Routine Care & Wellness

How reliable and accurate are Pap examinations?
No other screening procedure in medical history is as effective for detecting cancer. As effective as the Pap examination is, however, it is not perfect. A single Pap examination cannot be considered 100 percent reliable for several reasons:
  • The cell-sample obtained might not include abnormal cells.
  • Abnormal cells might have been washed away by douching, lubricants, or sexual activity.
  • Abnormal cells may have escaped detection.
Your best assurance that cervical cancer will be detected early is to schedule a Pap examination once every year and to make sure that the sample is studied at an accredited laboratory.

Source:

This information about Pap examination is used with permission and courtesy of the College of American Pathologists.





Clinicians | Practices | All About Pregnancy | All About MidLife | Health & Wellness | Home

Are you interested in participating in a clinical research study? click here

©2001-2002 Women's Health USA, Inc.

Physicians Practices Pregnancy All About Midlife Healther & Wellness