PREVENTION OF POST-CONE BIOPSY CERVICAL STENOSIS USING A TEMPORARY CERVICAL STENT

Summary. Stenosis of the residual cervix is not an infrequent complication of cone biopsy which may result in subfertility, problems with adequate follow‐up and dysmenorrhoea. In an attempt to minimize this complication a temporary indwelling cervical support stent has been developed. This is sutured into the exposed cone bed immediately after cutting the cone specimen and removed 2 weeks later. A pilot study using this device in 33 cold knife conizations has been performed. There were no primary or secondary haemorrhages and no post‐conization pelvic infections. At follow‐up, 6 months after cone biopsy two patients (6%) had clinical cervical stenosis, and one patient (3%) complained of dysmenorrhoea (although the cervix was not stenosed). The cervical transformation zone was fully visible in 21/33 patients (64%) (95% CI48 to 80) and follow‐up smears contained endocervical cells in 20/33 patients (61%) (95% CI 44 to 78). These results compare very favourably with historical controls from the same unit and suggest that cone biopsy support stents should now be assessed in a prospective randomized trial. Copyright © 1990, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved