Cervical conization: when is uterine dilatation and curettage also indicated?

Although the primary goal of cervical cone biopsy is treatment of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, conization plus uterine dilatation and curettage is usually considered as a single, standard procedure. We reviewed 128 cone biopsies (114 of these procedures included dilatation and curettage) over a 3-year period to see whether dilatation and curettage was necessary as an accompaniment to conization. The mean age for all patients was 32.8 years, and 6.25% (eight patients) had a history of abnormal uterine bleeding. There was no evidence of endometrial abnormality in any of the 114 dilatation and curettage specimens. These findings suggest that dilatation and curettage is not warranted as a routine adjunct to cone biopsy. We believe more precise criteria for combining dilatation and curettage with conization are required, and these include: patients in the peri- or postmenopausal period, suspected intrauterine abnormalities, and the presence of abnormal glandular cells in a cytologic sample. With the use of these guidelines, only 18 patients (14%) would have required dilatation and curettage.