D and C (dilatation and curettage) is a procedure in which the vaginal canal is held open with a speculum, and the cervix is dilated (widened) with a metal rod. A curette is then passed through the cervical canal into the uterine cavity where endometrial tissue is scraped away and collected for examination.
Review Date: 6/8/2008 Reviewed By: Harvey Simon, MD, Editor-in-Chief; Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Physician, Massachusetts General Hospital.
