LEEP may be done in a healthcare provider’s office, on an outpatient basis, or as part of your stay in a hospital. Procedures may vary depending on your condition and your healthcare provider’s practices.

You will be asked to undress fully or from the waist down and put on a hospital gown.

You will be told to empty your bladder before the procedure.

You will lie on an exam table, with your feet and legs supported as for a pelvic exam.

Your healthcare provider will insert a tool called a speculum into your vagina to spread the walls of the vagina apart to show the cervix.

Often, the healthcare provider will use a colposcope, a tool with a special lens like a microscope, to magnify the tissues. The colposcope will be placed at the opening of your vagina, but it does not enter your vagina.

Your healthcare provider will look through the colposcope to locate any areas for treatment on the cervix or in the vagina. Photographs with the colposcope or sketches of the areas on your cervix may be made for your healthcare record.

Your cervix may be cleaned and soaked with a vinegar solution, also called acetic acid solution. This helps make the abnormal tissues turn white and become more visible. You may have a mild burning feeling. An iodine solution is sometimes used to coat the cervix, called the Schiller test.

The healthcare provider will numb the area using a small needle to inject medicine.

A type of forceps, called a tenaculum, may be used to hold the cervix steady for the procedure. You may feel some cramping when the tenaculum is applied.

You will hear humming or blowing sounds from the equipment.

The LEEP wire will be inserted through the speculum and passed through the abnormal tissues. This may take one or more passes. You may feel pressure or a slight cramping.

Some women feel faint during the procedure. Tell your healthcare provider or the nurse if you have this feeling.

It is very important that you lie still during the procedure.

The amount and location of tissue removed depends on if LEEP is being used as a diagnostic tool or to remove abnormal tissue. LEEP wires come in different sizes and shapes.

The electrical current will seal the blood vessels, so usually there is very little bleeding. Any bleeding from the LEEP site may be treated with a paste-like topical medicine.

The tissue will be sent to a lab for testing.