Ultrasound breast biopsy beats stereotactic counterpart on patient experience

Women undergoing percutaneous breast biopsy experience less pain and discomfort when the procedure is guided by ultrasound than by stereotactic mammography with vacuum assistance, according to a Canadian study published online May 22 in European Radiology.

Jean Seely, MD, of the University of Ottawa and colleagues further found that, when it came to vacuum-assisted stereotactic breast biopsy (SBB), greater radiologist experience correlated with improved patient pain scores.

Seely and co-authors conducted structured phone interviews of 351 women who had recently undergone image-guided breast biopsy, 235 with ultrasound guidance and 116 with the SBB method. The team inquired about pain, bruising and other aspects of the experience.

They found that, on a scale of 1 (painless) to 10 (excruciating), pain scores averaged 3.1 for SBB and 2.3 for ultrasound-guided biopsy (UGB).  

The researchers also found a significant correlation between pain during SBB and physician experience (p = 0.013) and no such correlation with UGB.

Additionally, 28 percent of SBB patients mentioned body position as a source of discomfort, while only 0.4 percent of the UGB patients did so.

The team found no correlation between needle gauge and pain experienced during breast biopsy or between numbers of cores and pain.

“Stereotactic breast biopsy was inferior to ultrasound biopsy for patient experience,” Seely et al. conclude.  

To achieve high quality, “an institution must emphasize patient-centered care,” they note. “Increased radiologist training with stereotactic biopsy may contribute to improved patient experience.”