"The front office is always so friendly, they really seem to know how I feel while going through my surgery."
Susan - After breast biopsy
Evergreen Surgical Clinic Breast Services ( Non-Surgical Biopsies ) A service of Proliance Surgeons, Inc.
Fine Needle Aspiration Biospy ( FNAB )
FNAB is a biopsy technique performed with a very small needle, only slightly larger than the caliber of a
human hair. This needle is passed through breast lump using local anesthesia. Suction is applied while
the needle is being maneuvered and this pulls out microscopic amounts of breast tissue from the lump.
This breast tissue is analyzed microscopically for suspicious cells using a technique similar to Pap
smears.
We feel that this is best applicable to lumps that are easily felt. It is the least expensive
biopsy technique available and takes only 5-10 minutes. It is no more painful than having a blood test
drawn. The results are available within 24-48 hours. FNAB does not always give precise information and
thus is not used in all circumstances.
Ultrasound Guided Biopsy
This biopsy technique is used in our office frequently. Using our office ultrasound machine and local
anesthetics, the breast lump is located. A special biopsy needle, larger in caliber than the FNAB needle,
is guided through a small nick in the skin that has been anesthetized. This needle is guided down to the
lump using the ultrasound images generated by the ultrasound machine.
When the needle is in the area of
the lump, the needles biopsy mechanism is activated by the surgeon and quickly harvests a small core sample
of breast tissue about the size of a half inch long piece of pencil lead. This is usually done 2 or 3
times to make sure the lump has been adequately sampled. This procedure takes about 15 minutes and is
made painless by using generous amounts of local anesthetics and requires no special preparation on the
part of the patient. The results are usually quite precise and are available in less than 24
hours.
Stereotactic Biopsy
This technique uses the same type of special biopsy needle as with the ultrasound guidance. However,
the guidance mechanism here is a special mammographic technique that is computer aided. This biopsy
technique is done in coordination with the radiologist at the hospital and occurs in the mammogram suite.
This technique is usually used in cases where the abnormality can only be seen on a mammogram and may
simply be invisible to ultrasound. Again several biopsies are taken to ensure accuracy and the results
are also available in less than 24 hours. It is also done using local anesthetic techniques and requires
no preparation.
These three techniques are all outpatient procedures. All can be done quickly with the patient able to
resume normal activities immediately afterwards.
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