Medical Questions » Hysterectomy Questions » Question No. 527
| Question: | Ten years ago ! had a hysterectomy for fibroids, and my ovaries were removed. Do ! need to have a Pap smear? |
| Answer: | When a Pap smear is performed, the area examined is the cervix, and the test is primarily performed in order to find cancer of the cervix at an early stage. The cervix sits at the top of the vagina, and is the rubbery piece of tissue that forms the opening into the uterus (womb).
In a hysterectomy, the uterus and cervix are removed, but the vagina is left behind. After a hysterectomy, there is nothing left behind to perform a Pap smear on, you therefore do not require an annual trip to the doctor for this test. The one exception to this rule, is those women who have had a hysterectomy because of cancer. There is a very slight risk that the cancer can spread to the top of the vagina, and so vaginal vault smears should be performed regularly in these women.
The Pap smear test is one that should be performed on all women who have ever been sexually active. A test every two years is ideal, but if there have been abnormal tests of some sort, this may be reduced to 6 or 12 months.
Many other conditions other than cancer can be detected by a Pap smear. These include infections, abnormal discharges, erosions of the cervix and ulcers.
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