A Clinical Audit of Pap Smear Test for Screening of Cervical Cancer from Private Teaching Hospital of Pakistan

Abstract

Background: Cervical cancer is the fourth common malignancy in female world wise. The cervical cancer is the only cancer that have a definitive precancerous lesion and using Pap smear can be detected easily. WHO Has come up with “global strategy to eliminate cervical cancer” has emphasized pap smear widely as screening test. Objective: The study was conducted to audit pap smear test done in our department during the last one year. Study Design: This was a cross-sectional study. Settings: University of Lahore teaching hospital (ULTH), an affiliated hospital of private sector medical college, Lahore Pakistan. Duration: From February 2020 to February 2021. Methods: Clinical audit of all pap smear done from February 2020 to February 2021. A specialized proforma recording patient profile, clinical symptoms, examination finding, cytological report and follow up of patients with abnormal report. Conventional method of pap smear with Ayers’ spatula and slide was used. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 21. Results: Out of 357 Gynae patients, 120 patients had pap smear. Majority of patients 43% aged 40-50 years. The cervix was normal in 70% patients, hypertrophied in 28% and bleed to touch in 2% of the patients. Cytology showed normal smear in 55% patients, inflammation was in 37% and Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) was seen in 5%. One patients’ report turned out as squamous cell carcinoma and 2 samples were reported inadequate. Conclusion: Pap smear is simple screening test for carcinoma cervix but it is underused in our setup. There is need of mass campaign to familiarize the population with screening strategy and it should be offered free of cost to all.