What does cervical scraping check?

Cervical scraping is mainly used to check whether there are abnormal changes in cervical cells. It is an important method to screen for cervical cancer and precancerous lesions. Cervical scraping collects cervical exfoliated cells for pathological examination, which can detect human papillomavirus infection, cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and other lesions.

1. Cervical cancer screening

Cervical scraping is the core method for early screening of cervical cancer. Cell morphological changes are observed through Pap staining or liquid-based cytology technology. This method can effectively detect precancerous lesions such as cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 1-3, and has high sensitivity for squamous intraepithelial lesions caused by high-risk HPV infection. International guidelines recommend that women aged 21-65 undergo regular screening.

2. HPV infection detection

Modern liquid-based cytology technology can simultaneously perform HPV typing testing to determine whether there is high-risk human papillomavirus infection such as type 16 and type 18. Persistent high-risk HPV infection is the main causative factor of cervical cancer. Cytological examination can detect characteristic changes such as nuclear enlargement and nuclear hyperchromasia caused by the virus.

3. Inflammation assessment

Cervical scrapings can identify cellular inflammatory reactions caused by acute and chronic cervicitis, such as neutrophil infiltration and squamous epithelial cell degeneration. For infectious diseases such as bacterial vaginosis and trichomonas vaginitis, auxiliary diagnosis can be made by observing microorganisms and inflammatory cells in the background.

4. Diagnosis of glandular epithelial lesions

In addition to squamous epithelial lesions, scraping examination can also detect cervical glandular epithelial abnormalities, including glandular dysplasia and adenocarcinoma. Such lesions often present with disordered arrangement of cell clusters and increased nuclear-to-cytoplasmic ratio, and must be combined with cervical canal scraping to increase the detection rate.

5. Treatment efficacy monitoring

For patients with confirmed cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, regular cervical scrapings can evaluate the outcome of the lesions after laser, LEEP, and other treatments. The examination results show that the cell morphology has returned to normal or degraded, indicating that the treatment is effective. ； Persistent abnormalities require further colposcopy biopsy.

It is recommended that women of childbearing age undergo cervical smear examination every 3 years, and those over 30 years old can be combined with HPV testing to extend the screening interval. Sexual intercourse, vaginal douching and topical medication should be avoided 24 hours before the examination. The best time for examination is 3-7 days after menstruation. If the results indicate abnormalities above ASC-US, colposcopy or pathological biopsy must be performed as directed by the doctor for confirmation. Pay attention to keeping the vulva clean every day, and getting the HPV vaccine can significantly reduce the risk of cervical lesions.