Comparison of clinical effects and pregnancy outcomes after treatment of cervical intraepithelial neoplasis by loop electrosurgical excision procedure or cold knife conization

Objective: To observe the clinical effects and pregnancy outcomes after treatment of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) by loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP) and cold knife conization (CKC). Methods: We made a retrospective analysis of the clinical data of 115 cases diagnosed as CIN by biopsy and pathological examination under colposcope from January 2010 to December 2011, in which 64 cases received LEEP and 51 cases received CKC. We compared the operation time, the amount of intraoperative blood loss, postoperative complications, recurrence rate and cervical length after operation in the two groups. Totally 115 cases were followed up after operation, and healthy outpatient women were randomly selected as controls. The incidence of parturition and pregnancy outcomes were compared between the groups. Results: The operation time in LEEP group was (12.56±3.09) minutes, which was shorter than that in CKC group [(23.82±3.42) minutes] (P<0.05). The amount of intraoperative blood loss in LEEP group was (14.52±10.78)mL, which was lower than that in CKC group [(26.35±9.26)mL] (P<0.05). The incidence of complications after operation in LEEP group was 7.81%, which was lower than that in CKC group (31.37%) (P<0.05). However, LEEP group and CKC group did not differ significantly in the incidence of pathologic diagnosis consistency before and after operation (87.42%vs. 85.65%), lesions in the incision edge (1.56% vs. 1.96%), recurrence (3.13% vs. 1.96%), premature rupture of membranes (7.81% vs. 7.84%), preterm birth rate (6.25% vs. 5.88%), or low birth weight rate of newborns (10.71% vs. 11.11%) (P>0.05). Similar results were found between LEEP group and CKC group and control group (P>0.05). Conclusion: The operation time, the amount of intraoperative blood loss and the incidence of complications after LEEP are superior to those of CKC; neither of them affects the incidence of parturition, fertility or pregnancy outcomes. LEEP should be given more attention in its clinical application in treating CIN.