Can the use of ayer’s spatula and cytobrush in combination, improve the adequacy of cervical smears.

ABSTRACT

Background: The most common cancer affecting women in developing countries is cervical cancer. The most effective tools of cancer detection is cervical smears. The present study is done to see whether the combination two devices can increase the adequacy of smears, The Ayer’s spatula is good sampling device but for sampling endocervical cells it is not that useful, therefore Cytobrush is used in combination to improve the adequacy as it is most efficient in sampling the endocevical cells. Material and methods: The collection of cervical smears was done by combination of Ayer’s spatula and Cytobrush. They were fixed in 95% ethanol and stained by Papanicolaou’s stain. Results: In this study 387 (96.75%) smears were satisfactory and 13(3.25%) were unsatisfactory smears. Conclusion: The combination is better than the devices used alone. The cost is limiting factor in developing countries, but it can be brought down by others ways.