Interest of emergency endocervical specimens

To estimate the diagnosis profitability of endocervical specimen (ES) within the framework of a teaching gynecological emergency department by studying the circumstances of realization and its bacteriological results. We included in our study all the patients who had a gynecological exam with an ES during a consultation in our gynecological teaching emergency department of Tours between January 1st, 2012 and December 31st, 2012. We estimated the diagnosis profitability of realization of the ES (positivity rate within the population with ES, diagnosis correction in case of pelvic inflammatory disease). Over the study period, 614 (12.4%) women consulting in our emergency department had an ES, which was positive among 102 (16.6%) of them, and a diagnosis of pelvic inflammatory disease in 64 patients. ES had a higher pertinence in case of abdominal pain and a lesser one in case of pregnancy for whom ES realisation must be limited. The diagnosis correction due to ES was observed in 46.8% of pelvic inflammatory disease. The diagnostic profitability of the endocervical specimen in our emergency department was low, taking into account the whole cohort, but ES permitted to correct the diagnosis in about half of diagnosed pelvic inflammatory diseases. The endocervical specimens seem to have no profit in pregnant women.