Does large needle aspiration biopsy add pain to the thyroid nodule evaluation?.

Abstract

Thyroid large needle aspiration biopsy is disregarded because it is thought to be associated with pain. This is in contrast with our 32 years long experience. We surveyed reports of pain in patients examined with fine needle aspiration biopsy (78, 87.2% women, mean age 59 years) or FNAB+large needle aspiration biopsy (48, 87.5% women, mean age 60 years). Each patient was questioned regarding a) no unpleasant sensation (score "0"); b) unpleasant sensation ("1"); c) mild pain (no analgesic used; "2"); or d) pain (analgesic used; "3"). The mean size of the needle used was for FNAB 22.3+/-0.7 or 20.8+/-1 gauge in the fine needle aspiration or fine needle aspiration plus large needle aspiration biopsy group, respectively (p