Atlas of Colposcopy: Principles and Practice

Preparation of 5% acetic acid

Ingredients (to prepare 100 mL of 5% acetic acid solution)

• Glacial acetic acid: 5 mL
• Distilled water or boiled water (boiled for 20 minutes) at room temperature: 95 mL

Label
5% dilute acetic acid prepared on dd/mm/yyyy.

Note: It is essential to dilute the glacial acetic acid, because the undiluted acid causes a severe chemical burn if applied to the epithelium. The bottle of glacial acetic acid should be clearly labelled and stored away from the colposcopy trolley.

Storage
Unused acetic acid should be discarded at the end of the day.

Preparation