LEEP and CKC Equally Effective in Diagnosis and Treatment

Cervical cold knife conization (CKC) has been the gold standard for treatment of cervical dysplasia. When the loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP) was introduced, it was used instead of CKC because it is an outpatient procedure done under local anesthesia. CKC requires a hospital setting, general or regional anesthesia, and surgical skill, and it is more expensive. However, few studies have examined the long-term morbidity and outcome with LEEP.

This study randomized 180 women from a colposcopy clinic, serving primarily indigent Hispanic women, to CKC or LEEP. Patients had unsatisfactory colposcopy and cervical or endocervical biopsy showing CIN; endocervical curettage positive for CIN; suspected invasive cervical cancer unconfirme…