Colposcope video: viewing and recording the examination

A camera attached to or built into the colposcope can send the illuminated image to a monitor. The clinician can use the screen while examining the cervix, vagina or vulva. Some systems can capture still images or recordings, but whether anything is saved depends on the clinic's equipment, clinical need and consent process.

The image may show normal tissue, the opening of the cervix, blood vessels and areas that react to liquids applied during the examination. Colour or texture differences help the clinician decide whether closer inspection or a biopsy is appropriate. A visual change is not a diagnosis, and a video image cannot replace laboratory assessment of a tissue sample.

You may be offered the option to watch the monitor. Some people find this helpful; others prefer not to look. Either choice is reasonable and does not affect the clinician's ability to perform the examination.

Before the examination, ask whether the display is live only or whether images may be stored. If recording is proposed, ask why it is useful, who can access it, where it becomes part of your health record and whether separate permission is required. Tell the clinician if you do not want to see the screen.

During the examination, you can request an explanation of what is visible, ask for unfamiliar terms to be clarified, or say that you need a pause. Afterward, base follow-up decisions on the clinician's interpretation and any biopsy result rather than trying to diagnose yourself from an image.

Watching or recording the view does not cause physical after-effects. Symptoms may follow speculum examination or biopsy instead. Contact your clinic without delay for heavy or increasing bleeding, intense or worsening pelvic pain, fever, unpleasant-smelling discharge or feeling markedly unwell. Seek urgent help if you faint, become short of breath or have rapidly increasing bleeding.

Useful questions include whether you can choose to watch, whether an image will be saved, how stored material is protected, what the visible changes suggest, whether a biopsy was collected and when the complete result will be discussed. Ask whom to contact if symptoms arise after you leave.