Fine needle aspiration of abdominal organs: a review of current recommendations for achieving a diagnostic sample

Abstract

With the improved accessibility to ultrasound, fine needle aspiration of abdominal organs is now performed frequently in many veterinary practices. Despite this, there are many ‘unknowns’ as to the best method to produce a high‐quality sample. This report begins by highlighting recent literature on the risks and benefits of abdominal fine needle aspiration. It follows with recommendations about the equipment and method best suited to the procedure, including needle and syringe size and aspiration versus non‐aspiration techniques. Various smear preparations and laboratory submission requirements are also discussed. The final aspect of the review more specifically discusses fine needle aspiration of specific abdominal organs: the liver, kidney, spleen, pancreas, urinary bladder, prostate and abdominal lymph nodes.

Safety of percutaneous ultrasound‐guided fine‐needle aspiration of adrenal lesions in dogs: Perception of the procedure by radiologists and presentation of 50 cases

“…In our study, bleeding occurred in 1 dog in which a spinal needle (22‐G; 63 mm) was used instead of a hypodermic needle and this could have influenced the risk of bleeding. In general, hypodermic, 22‐ to 25‐gauge needles are commonly used for FNA of abdominal organs . In veterinary literature, the few cases of adrenal aspiration described in the dog do not report the type of needle used.…”

“…In general, hypodermic, 22-to 25-gauge needles are commonly used for FNA of abdominal organs. 1,2 In veterinary literature, the few cases of adrenal aspiration described in the dog do not report the type of needle used. In the most recent study, 17 it is specified that because of the retrospective nature of the study, these technical details about the procedure were not available but that a 25-gauge/38-mm hypodermic needle is routinely used in the clinic from which the cases were collected.…”

“…In dogs, fine‐needle aspiration (FNA), performed percutaneously under ultrasound (US) guidance, represents the most used and least invasive technique for the collection of cytological samples of abdominal organs . Adrenal cytology is able to discriminate the origin (cortical or medullary) of an adrenal neoplasm with a high diagnostic accuracy (90%‐100%) .…”

Transesophageal endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration for the diagnosis of vertebral infectious spondylodiscitis: a novel approach

“…In the case of FNA, the main complication is bleeding, although it did not occur in our three cases. In reference to the number of passes, there is no scientific evidence in this regard, so we have followed the usual recommendations for that area and technique [10].…”

Nonconformities in Veterinary Cytopathological Examinations: A Retrospective Study of Unsuitable Samples for Analysis

“…Based on the obtained results regarding the sample collection techniques, FNA was frequently employed, due to its potential to be applied in a number of situations from superfi cial lesions, skin neoplasms, abdominal organs, mammary glands, and lymph nodes to harder tissues. Moreover, FNA allows the collection of samples of better quality because it avoids external contamination and allows the collection of cells from deeper layers [14][15][16][17]. This is important, since the sample may be acellular or present low cellularity due to inappropriate collection techniques.…”