LYMPH Node Needle biopsy

This procedure takes about 10 to 15 minutes. While you’re lying on an examination table, your doctor will clean the biopsy site and apply medication to numb the area. Your doctor will insert a fine needle into your lymph node and remove a sample of cells. They’ll then remove the needle and put a bandage on the site.

• Open biopsy: An open biopsy removes either a portion of your lymph node or the entire lymph node. Your doctor can perform this procedure with local anesthesia, using a numbing medication applied to the biopsy site. You can also request general anesthesia that will make you sleep through the procedure. The entire procedure takes between 30 and 45 minutes. Your doctor will:
  • make a small cut
  • remove the lymph node or portion of the lymph node
  • stitch the biopsy site closed
  • apply a bandage

  Pain is generally mild after an open biopsy, and your doctor may suggest over-the- counter pain medications. It takes about 10 to 14 days for the incision to heal. You should avoid strenuous activity and exercise while your incision heals.

• Sentinel biopsy: If you have cancer, your doctor may perform a sentinel biopsy to determine where your cancer is likely to spread. With this procedure, your doctor will inject a blue dye, which is also called a tracer, into your body near the cancer site. The dye travels to the sentinel nodes, which are the first few lymph nodes into which a tumor drains. Your doctor will then remove this lymph node and send it to a lab to check it for cancer cells. Your doctor will make treatment recommendations based on the lab results.