Many American women who have had a hysterectomy with removal of the cervix for benign disease continue to undergo routine Papanicolaou (Pap) testing despite a lack of supporting evidence and a clear recommendation from the United States Preventive Services Task Force against it.
Conversely, the vast majority of American women who die from cervical cancer were either underscreened or never screened for cervical disease, most likely as a result of real or perceived cost barriers. The money saved by not inappropriately performing Pap tests on low-risk women would pay for the cost of screening the 17 million women in the United States who are currently underscreened for cervical cancer (J Womens Health Gender Based Med 2002; 11:103–109). (Level of evidence [LOE]=2b)