LEEP Verses Cryotherapy in CIN.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the effectiveness and safety profile of LEEP (Loop Electrosurgical Excision Procedure) verses cryotherapy in the treatment of CIN.

MATERIAL AND METHOD: Women with abnormal pap smears were subjected to VIA and VILLI followed by colposcopy. A total of 200 cases were included in this prospective study. Once the diagnosis of CIN was confirmed on histopathology, the women were subjected to either cryotherapy or LEEP randomly. They were follow up at 1, 6 and 12 months. At 12 months follow up, cervix was subjected to VIA, VILLI and colposcopy. Chi square test was used to analyze the data.

OBSERVATIONS: The efficacy of cryotherapy was found to be 88% and that of LEEP was 94% which is not significantly different. The overall cure rate of symptoms was 82 and 79% in cryosurgery and LEEP group, respectively.

CONCLUSION: Although LEEP was associated with higher cure rates but the difference is not significant statistically. Either method if used appropriately gives good results in treatment of CIN lesions, however, LEEP seems to have an edge over cryotherapy when used on severe lesions.