Annual Pelvic Exam for Women Unnecessary: Physicians

Healthy women needn't undergo pelvic examination, the American College of Physicians states.

Many physicians and women believe that pelvic exams should be part of annual health check-ups. However, ACP states that the harms of these exams outweigh their benefits.

"Screening pelvic examination exposes adult, asymptomatic, average risk, non-pregnant women to unnecessary and avoidable harms, including anxiety, embarrassment, and discomfort, and may even prevent some women from getting needed medical care," said Dr. Molly Cooke, ACP's Immediate Past President and a member of ACP's Clinical Practice Guidelines Committee. "False positive findings can lead to unnecessary tests or procedures, adding additional unnecessary costs to the health care system."

According to the physician group, pelvic exams can be conducted on some women such as those with vaginal discharge, pain, bleeding, sexual dysfunction or urinary problems. In all other women, doctors can limit the pelvic test to visual inspection of the cervix and cervical swabs for cancer.

ACP represents 137,000 internal medicine physicians and related specialists, The Washington Post reported. The influential physician groups said that pelvic exams often fail to detect ovarian cancer.

"Routine pelvic examination has not been shown to benefit asymptomatic, average risk, non-pregnant women. It rarely detects important disease and does not reduce mortality and is associated with discomfort for many women, false positive and negative examinations, and extra cost," said Dr. Linda Humphrey, a co-author of the guideline and a member of ACP's Clinical Practice Guidelines Committee, according to a news release.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, however, has released a statement stating that it still encourages pelvic exams in otherwise healthy women. According to ACOG, annual pelvic exams help gynecologists monitor health of the patients.