title: The management of cervical mucus in obtaining a papanicolaou smear.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Our objective was to determine whether wiping of the cervix before taking a Papanicolaou smear aided cytological interpretation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three hundred nine women were randomly assigned to one of two groups. In one group, the subjects' cervixes were wiped before Papanicolaou smears were obtained. Smears were taken by uniformly trained practitioners and were read by cytologists in a blind fashion.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were no demographical differences between groups, nor were there differences between groups as to the quality of the smears or the diagnoses made. There were differences between groups as to remarks made by cytologists. The nonwiped group had thicker smears (p = .006) and more inflammation (p = .04). The wiped group showed more drying artifact (p = .001), crush artifact (p = .005), and limited cellular material (p = .007).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It would appear that though there are no marked differences between the two techniques, wiping the cervix before obtaining the smear leads to less cellular material for comparison and predisposes to air drying. This technique may be less beneficial than was thought.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Clinical Science Center, University of Wisconsin Medical School, Madison, Wl.
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Hild-Mosley
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Lindblade
authors.forename: T M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Julian