The Smear test, or Pap test, named after the first researcher, a doctor-biologist, is a test to prevent cervical cancer.
The collection is done with special brushes – cotton swabs from various parts of the cervix. There are two types of methods. The classic-conventional Smear test and the Thin Prep Pap test (liquid cytology).
Testing is performed on any day of the cycle. In women with a stable cycle, we prefer the days around ovulation, i.e. around the fertile days. In women with an unstable cycle or in menopause, it is taken any day of the month. The conditions are that there is no vaginal bleeding (dripping of bloody – brown secretion), that the woman does not suffer from vaginitis and that she has not had sexual intercourse at least 24 hours before.
The cells that the cytologist will study will give us information about the health of the woman and specifically of the vagina and the cervix. This detects from simple inflammations to precancerous and cancerous lesions. The Smear test is the most basic screening test for cervical cancer and should be done at least once a year, at all ages for as long as the woman is sexually active.