Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) is ordered by your health care provider when a lump is discovered during examination or during sonography, and your physician wants to determine what the nature of the lump is. In the past, the only way to do this was to have you go to the hospital and undergo a surgical procedure that may be painful, might cause scarring, had more complications, and involved a longer period of anxiety while waiting for the results. With the use of FNAC, all this is unnecessary in most cases. We can now sample your lump using only a thin small needle which will leave a mark no bigger than a needle stick from a blood test. Furthermore, this test will most often allow us to make a diagnosis of your lump within 3 to 4 days of the test. Fine needle aspirations may be performed on palpable lumps (lumps which can be felt), or impalpable lumps which have been detected on ultrasound or x-ray. Once the skin has been cleaned at the needle entry point, the lump is then examined. If the lump can be felt, your doctor or surgeon will palpate the lump to position it for the needle. If the lump cannot be felt, imaging may be required to find the exact location. This can be done with ultrasound, where the surgeon will watch the needle on the ultrasound monitor and guide it to the area, or with a stereotactic mammogram (for the breast) which uses two mammograms at different angles and a computer to create exact coordinates. The type of needle used for fine needle aspiration biopsy has a hollow interior and is much finer than a regular needle used to draw blood.
Posted on: Mon, 02 Sep 2013 14:54:06 +0000
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