happens when the test is performed?
- This test is performed
in the doctor's office. It begins with a pelvic examination
(see page 44). Then, after cleaning your vagina and cervix
(the entrance to the uterus, visible from your vagina) with
antibacterial soap, the doctor might put a clamp on your cervix
to hold it steady. He or she inserts a flexible, sterile plastic
instrument called a pipelle, which looks like a drinking straw,
through the opening in your cervix and positions it several
inches into the uterus. Then the doctor pulls a thin wire out
of the center of the pipelle. As the rod is pulled out, the
pipelle becomes hollow and creates suction, drawing some of
the cells from the lining of your uterus into the pipelle.
To get a good sample, the doctor will move the pipelle forward
and backward a few times before removing it. The cell sample
is deposited in some fluid to be examined later under a microscope.
The entire procedure takes about 10 minutes.