Facts on the Pap

Do I still need a pap smear every year?  We've asked Jennifer Heinemann, MD with the Lowcountry Women's Specialists to help answer this question. 

In light of new recommendations by the US Preventive Services Task Force, this question is being asked in Ob/Gyn offices every day.  The answer lies with another question: what is the difference between a pelvic exam and a pap smear? 

A pelvic exam is a thorough exam by a gynecologist or another skilled provider including inspection of the external genitalia for lesions or abnormalities, a pap smear via a speculum exam, a bimanual exam to palpate uterine size as well as ovaries, and often times a rectal exam among other techniques as deemed necessary.

With that said even though the current recommendations state a pap smear, which screens for cervical cancer,  may be spaced out to every 2 years in those 21 to 29 years of age and every 3 years in those 30 years and older with a history of 3 consecutive negative pap smears, every female with ovaries needs a yearly pelvic exam to evaluate ovaries for cysts and/or masses.  Unlike cervical cancer, there is no good screening test for ovarian cancer which will kill 15,500 women this year.  Ovarian cancer accounts for more deaths than any other cancer death of the reproductive system including cervical cancer. One in 71 women will get ovarian cancer in their lifetime and 1 in 95 women will die of ovarian cancer. 

So to answer the question: no you do not need a pap smear every year but you do need a pelvic exam by a skilled physician every year.

Dr. Heinemann is a Board Certified physician in the American Congress of OBGYN. She received her MD degree from Medical University of South Carolina, completed a residency at the University of Florida Health Science Center in Jacksonville, and is a partner at Lowcountry Women's Specialist in Charleston, SC.