Background/aims: A barbed puncture needle with a side hole was recently developed to improve sample quality and quantity in endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA). In this study, we retrospectively assessed the usefulness of this puncture needle.
Methods: Factors affecting diagnostic yield, safety, and diagnostic accuracy were investigated in 76 patients who consecutively underwent EUS-FNA for neoplastic lesions at our hospital between January and December 2013.
Results: The procedure was successful in all cases; the rates of sample collection and determination of the correct diagnosis were 92.1% and 89.5%, respectively. The mean number of needle passes required for diagnosis was 1.1. Complications included mild intraluminal bleeding in two patients (2.6%). Multivariate analysis revealed that lesion size (≤20 mm) was significantly associated with a decreased chance of determining the correct diagnosis.
Conclusions: Core biopsy needles with a side hole are safe and provide a satisfactory diagnostic yield. However, the side hole may potentially reduce the rate of making the correct diagnosis in small lesions.
Keywords: Biopsy needles; Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration; Side hole; Size of lesions.