Introduction:

Liquid-based cytology is a method that can contribute to the early identification of microscopic changes in the uterine cervix that can progress to malignancy, by reducing the number of unsatisfactory samples compared to conventional cytology.

Objective:

To analyze the microscopic characteristics identified by liquid-based cytology of the uterine cervix in women treated at the Student Welfare Unit of the Technical University of Manabí, Ecuador.

Methods:

A descriptive, cross-sectional, retrospective and quantitative study was carried out where the sociodemographic, microbiological and histological characteristics collected in the medical records of 132 women who participated in the Pap smear campaign carried out during June 2019 were analyzed.

Results:

The age range that prevailed was 19 to 33 years who lived in urban areas, 64% of women began their sexual life before or at 18 years of age. The microbiological findings showed the presence of coccoid flora in 50% and 100% of the samples showed adequate quality. The cytological study presented, according to the Bethesda system, 75% of negative samples, with 13% low-grade IEL and 11% ASCUS. The background of the mild inflammatory smears was present in 52%, the history of previous positive cytology in 34% was more than three. All of the samples were useful. No relationship was found between the presence of intraepithelial lesion and the age of the patients (p=0.3076).

Conclusions:

CBL can ensure a higher quality of histological diagnosis by guaranteeing a greater number of useful samples.

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