Endoscopic Ultrasound-Guided Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology in Diagnosing Abdominal Lesions

Background/Aim: Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration cytology (EUS-FNA) is an effective method to acquire tissue from the mucosal, submucosal, and peri-intestinal structures with the pancreas being the most common organ to be targeted. The aim of this study is to evaluate the role of EUS-FNA in pancreatic lesions as well as other gastrointestinal (GI) structures including lymph nodes and upper GI tract.

Method: It is an observational study conducted in a tertiary care center, between January 2021 to December 2023, in the Department of Gastroenterology, Gauhati Medical College and Hospital, Assam. Total 63 number of patients were taken in which EUS-FNA was performed. The detail analysis of the cytological features was performed in all these cases.

Results: Out of 63 cases, 38 (60.3%) were male and 25 (39.6%) were female with a mean age of 49.5 years. The most common site being the pancreas in 41 (65.07%) cases followed by intra-abdominal lymph nodes in 8 (12.6%) and stomach in 6 (9.5%) cases. The neoplastic aspirate was noted in 29 (46.03%) cases. Among malignant lesion, adenocarcinoma was the most common. Malignant lesion in pancreas includes adenocarcinoma 13(31.7%) followed by mucinous neoplasm 3 (7.3%). Tuberculosis was one of the common benign lesion reported in 7 (11.1%) cases.

Conclusion: EUS-FNA is an effective tool in the diagnosis of GI lesion particularly in the pancreas where it can avoid unnecessary surgical intervention. It can be used to diagnose tuberculosis in inaccessible intra-abdominal lymph nodes.

Publication History

Article published online:
22 April 2024