[Outpatient excision of low grade cervical intraepithelial lesions using loop diathermy]

Twenty five years after the introduction of outpatient treatment for cervical precancers, several cases of invasive cancer after laser, cryotherapy or electrocautery have been described. As a consequence, the diathermy loop excision has recently been proposed for the treatment of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. The new generators seem to assure a high quality of cut and allow the histological analysis of all the lesional tissue excised as deep as the laser vaporisation usually goes (7 mm). We have tested this treatment on a series of CIN I on an outpatient basis and our results confirm that loop excision can replace destructive treatments for CIN I. As for high grade lesions, we still think that laser conisation under general anesthesia remains the best choice.