Mammary puncture

When diagnosing some breast diseases, a mammary gland puncture may be required - a procedure for taking tissue samples for analysis.

This method of research can almost infallibly distinguish a malignant disease from a benign one.

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Is breast puncture dangerous?

Puncture of the mammary gland does not pose a danger to a woman, since simultaneously with the procedure the doctor necessarily monitors his actions using ultrasound. It is much more dangerous not to make a timely diagnosis and delay treatment.

Of course, in addition to puncture, other examinations are also carried out - mammography, cystography, ultrasound examination. However, only puncture can give the doctor comprehensive information about the nature of the tumor, so you should not refuse it. Moreover, there are a number of cases when the procedure is mandatory, and nothing can replace it. This is the appearance of painless seals and nodes in the mammary gland, changes in the appearance of the skin on the chest (color, ulcers, "lemon peel"), discharge from the milk ducts, which should not be there in a normal state (blood, pus, etc.).

Often, puncture is used not only as a diagnostic procedure, but also for treatment: for example, to pump out fluid from a cystic cavity.

True, there are cases when the use of puncture is not recommended. Among them:

• the first 4-5 days of the beginning of the menstrual cycle;
• pregnancy and lactation period;
• poor blood clotting caused by disease or taking anticoagulant drugs.

If you are taking blood thinning tablets (aspirin, cardiomagnyl, etc.), be sure to tell your doctor about it.

How is a mammary gland puncture performed?

What is a puncture and how is it performed? This is a small puncture of the breast tissue, which is necessary to remove the suspicion of the development of a malignant process.

To obtain a comprehensive effect, the puncture is performed after other research methods: mammography, the use of ultrasound, which allows to clarify the localization and prevalence of the pathological process.

A puncture can be taken using several methods. Most often, the procedure is carried out as follows: the doctor inserts a special needle directly into the seal or node, with the help of which a certain amount of contents or tissue elements are “taken”. What can be obtained will be the material for further research. Such material is subjected to a special coloring with subsequent microscopic examination. The use of ultrasound simultaneously with the puncture allows you to get an accurate idea of where the needle goes. This method is usually carried out without anesthesia, since the procedure is usually not very painful.

The hematoma of the mammary gland after the puncture passes quite quickly, or does not form at all. The formation of scars after the puncture is completely excluded.

An alternative puncture method is used in cases where a standard needle does not allow taking the necessary material due to the deep location of the pathological focus. In such a situation, the doctor has to use a larger needle or a special "gun". This method already requires local anesthesia, but even after this procedure there are no scars.

In different situations, other puncture methods can be used. Let us describe their main features.

1. Fine needle puncture. This is the most commonly used procedure. It is used when the nodular seal is located close to the skin surface: the needle simply cannot reach deeper formations. During the puncture, the woman sits on a couch, the doctor treats the injection site and inserts the needle into the glandular tissue. The necessary material is sucked out with a syringe, after which the needle is removed, and the injection site is treated with a bactericidal agent.
2. Stereotactic puncture. This procedure is done on the principle of the previous one, but the woman lies on her back, and the doctor makes not one, but several injections into different places of the compaction. Such a puncture is necessarily carried out under the control of ultrasound or mammography.
3. Core needle puncture. Using a thick needle allows the doctor to take more material for examination, which will subsequently allow a more accurate diagnosis to be made.
4. Incisional puncture of a breast tumor. This procedure involves excision of the affected tissues under local anesthesia. Incisional puncture is used when the doctor doubts the reliability of a regular biopsy, or the malignant nature of the formation cannot be ruled out. The tissues are excised and removed, that is, such a puncture is akin to a small operation. The removed material is also examined in the laboratory under a microscope.
5. Trepan biopsy. This puncture is performed to diagnose the nature of tumors that are not palpable. The procedure is performed using a special device called a “gun-needle” (biopsy gun) against the background of ultrasound monitoring.
6. Puncture of a mammary gland cyst is performed using the aspiration method. The doctor inserts a needle into the cyst through the external and internal tissues of the mammary gland. Then a syringe is attached, which is used to pump out the contents of the cystic formation. The liquid is completely removed, which helps the cyst walls to collapse (stick together) and reduce pain.
7. A puncture of a fibroadenoma of the mammary gland is performed in order to characterize the nature of the tumor (malignant or benign). During the procedure, the doctor takes a piece of fibroadenoma tissue through a small incision or with the same needle. The obtained tissue is sent to the laboratory for examination.

Diagnostic puncture of the mammary gland

The material extracted during the diagnostic puncture is sent to the laboratory. There, the obtained tissues are stained using a special technology and examined microscopically. This diagnostic method is currently recognized as the most reliable in the differential diagnosis of malignant tumors.

Cells affected by the oncological process have a different structure compared to normal cells.

True, it happens that the results of a breast puncture do not reveal the cancerous nature of the tumor, and subsequently the oncology diagnosis is confirmed. This can happen in situations where the puncture is performed without ultrasound monitoring: without 100% control of the process, the doctor can mistakenly take tissue from an unaffected area of the gland.

If after the puncture the doctor still has doubts about the etiology of the disease, he may recommend excision and removal of the formation in order to then examine the material obtained during the operation.

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Complications after breast puncture

The consequences of a mammary gland puncture may be expressed in the following symptoms:

• swelling and puffiness of the breast;
• hematomas and bruises;
• After removing a tumor or suctioning out the contents of a cyst, the shape of the mammary gland may change.

Such consequences usually pass within a few days. Complications in the form of internal tissue infection are extremely rare.

Pain after a mammary gland puncture may bother you for some time. The severity and duration of such pain depends on the amount of material removed: the more tissue taken for analysis, the more significant the pain. In such cases, the patient is prescribed painkillers (without acetylsalicylic acid) and applying cold to the chest. The pain should subside within a few days.

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Reviews of breast puncture

Reviews of mammary gland puncture vary greatly. And this is understandable: all patients have different diagnoses, different body characteristics, and different doctors perform the procedure differently. What conclusions can be drawn from the many reviews I have read:

• mammary gland puncture – the procedure is practically painless, but if you are a person with increased pain sensitivity, take a painkiller tablet (without aspirin) before the procedure or ask the doctor to give you local anesthesia;
• the degree of bleeding after the procedure depends on the competence of the doctor, or on the characteristics of your blood coagulation system. If the blood clots poorly, or you took aspirin or other anticoagulants a week before the procedure, then, most likely, you are guaranteed to have hematomas;
• To reduce the risk of bruising and pain, take an ice pack with you and apply it after the procedure (provided there is no inflammation in the mammary gland);
• You can plan your schedule on the day of the procedure as usual. The puncture usually lasts 10-15 minutes (incisional - a little longer, check with your doctor).

A puncture of the mammary gland is a necessary procedure, and if a doctor prescribes such a method of examination, it means that he must have every reason for this.