How Each Type of Biopsy is Performed
- A surgical biopsy may be done under local anesthesia while you’re awake, or under general anesthesia while you sleep
- A needle biopsy is a more minor procedure that’s done with local anesthesia
- It can take a week or two to get your biopsy results
The experience you can expect going into a biopsy “depends on the type of biopsy that’s being performed,” Dr. Elise Chong, medical oncologist at Penn Medicine, tells SurvivorNet.
Read More- Surgical biopsies remove part or all of a lymph node through an incision in the skin
- Needle biopsies remove a smaller amount of tissue through a thin or wider hollow needle
Surgical Biopsy: What to Expect
This is a minor operation. How it’s performed depends on where the lymph node is located. If it’s close to the surface of your skin, you might only need a local anesthetic to numb the area beforehand.
If the lymph node is deeper, you’ll need either general anesthesia, where you’re fully asleep, or conscious sedation, where you’re just unaware of what’s going on. “Usually the patient will either be put to sleep or in a twilight state where you won’t remember anything about the procedure,” Dr. Chong says. “This is done so that no one’s remembering any discomfort associated with the procedure.”
Your surgeon will cut through your skin and remove the lymph node or other section of organ that’s going to be biopsied. The doctor will close your skin back up with skin glue, sutures, or staples, Dr. Chong explains. Finally, the wound is covered with a bandage.
Usually the entire procedure takes just a few hours. Depending on how deep the incision is, you may have to stay overnight at the hospital, or you could be released on the same day, once your body has had time to recover.
If you have general anesthesia, you’ll need someone to drive you home. The doctor should give you instructions on how to care for the incision and keep it clean at home to avoid infection. You may need to return to your doctor about a week later to remove the stitches if they don’t dissolve on their own.
Needle Biopsy: What to Expect
A needle biopsy is a less invasive procedure, and it’s typically done on an outpatient basis. Your doctor will use a needle — either a thin or a thicker tube-like needle — and remove a sample from your lymph node or tumor.
“That’s typically just done with local anesthesia,” Dr. Chong says. “A needle is placed under the skin with numbing medication, which typically feels like pinching and a bit of burning.” Once the needle is in, all you should feel is some pressure as your doctor places the needle into the lymph node. The entire process might not take more than a few minutes.
Waiting for Your Results
Once the procedure is over, the waiting game begins. Your biopsy sample will go out to a laboratory, where a specialist called a pathologist will check it for cancer. Ask your doctor when you can expect to get your results.
The process typically takes a week or two, because diagnosing lymphoma requires special tests. The lab will stain the cells to sort out which type of lymphoma you have. The lab might also do cytogenetic tests looking for specific chromosomal abnormalities. The results of these tests can not only show what type of cancer you have, but may also help your doctor predict your outlook and how your cancer might respond to certain types of chemotherapy drugs. It might also affect the chemotherapy treatment you receive.
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