Today our topic of discussion is Procedure of Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology.
Procedure of Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology
Procedure
- Explain the procedure to the patient .
- Cleanse the skin with an antiseptic solution and drape
- Insert the needle delicately into the lesion by an oblique tract, perceiving the tissue texture on entry and the piston and keep it steady.
- With suction in place pass the needle gently through the lesion in three or four directions.
- Then release the piston gently to release the suction, and withdraw the needle
- Apply pressure over the puncture site with a cotton wool ‘ball’ for 5 minutes
- Detach the needle from the syringe and draw the air into the syringe; contents of the needle bore are blown onto dry and clean microscope slide

- Lightly spread the tissue juice and tumor fragments with the needle point as for bone marrow.
- Immediate air-drying by waving the slide.
- This may be improved by hot air from hair dryer or hot light bulb.
- Then the smear is fixed in methanol for 5 minutes and stained with Romanovsky stain
- Immediate wet fixation of smears with ethanol and staining by Papanicolaou or hematoxylin and eosin (H and E)
- When immediate diagnosis is required preoper- atively, dick quick staining method is valuable.
Variation in Technique
- For splenic, hepatic and abdominal puncture, the clotting factors must be normal and local anesthesia employed.
- Aspiration is performed swiftly, with the patient holding breath after deep inspiration
- For skeletal puncture, it is not necessary to penetrate cortex.
- Primary and secondary bone tumor tissues may lie periosteally.
- A glancing aspiration on a skeletal surface frequently gives cells.
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