Colposcopy in evaluation of the adult sexual assault victim

The purpose of this study was to determine if the colposcope improves detection of genital trauma in adult women who are victims of sexual assault compared with gross visual examination alone. A prospective, 1-month pilot study was conducted of 17 women patients who presented consecutively to Charity Hospital New Orleans during April 1994 requesting sexual assault examinations. Use of the colposcope allowed documentation of trauma in 9 of the 17 sexual assault victims (53%), compared with 1 of 17 (6%) by gross visualization alone (statistically significant: chi2 = 0.64, P = .0114). The colposcope improved detection of genital trauma in adult female sexual assault victims as compared with gross visual examination alone at a statistically significant level.