Obstet Gynecol Sci.  2022 Jan;65(1):84-93. 10.5468/ogs.21247.

Adherence to the American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology guidelines: an observational study

• Conrad SK
• Dahman B
• Kumar A
• Hylton J
• Isaacs C

• KMID: 2524688
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5468/ogs.21247

Abstract

Objective
The 2012 American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology (ASCCP) guidelines were developed to provide guidance regarding cervical pathology and to minimize overtreatment of lesions that may resolve spontaneously. We aimed to evaluate the adherence to these guidelines with referrals for colposcopy at a large academic center and to understand the factors associated with incorrect referrals.
Methods
This retrospective observational study involved women referred to the Virginia Commonwealth University for colposcopy or loop electrosurgical excision procedure from January 2015 to December 2016.
Results
Referral requests from 430 women were reviewed. Among these, 17.4% were discordant with the ASCCP guidelines. The most common discordant colposcopy referrals were low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (48%) and atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (29%). The possibility of incorrect referrals was decreased among highgrade lesions (odds ratio [OR], 0.03), while it was increased in women aged <25 years (OR, 31.6) and in those referred by family medicine (OR, 3.6) or internal medicine (OR, 4.4). Ten patients were referred for cervical cytology results of samples collected from the vaginal cuffs despite hysterectomies performed for benign lesions.
Conclusion
Patients referred outside of the guidelines were most often women aged <25 years with low-grade lesions. Referrals outside evidence-based guidelines may lead to unnecessary procedures and additional healthcare expenses. Our results help identify the areas for provider education and potential areas of concern regarding the implementation of the 2019 ASCCP guideline updates.

Keyword

Retrospective studies; Colposcopy; Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia; Alphapapillomavirus; Squamous intraepithelial lesions

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Flow Diagram of the descriptive study involving women referred to the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) for colposcopy or loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP). The American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology (ASCCP) online application and published guidelines were used to determine the accuracy of referrals.

Reference

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