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Peer-reviewed veterinary case report

Safety of ultrasound-guided pancreas needle biopsy in cats

By Crain, Sarah K et al.·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2015·Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, United States·View original on PubMed

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Original publication title: Safety of ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration of the feline pancreas: a case-control study.

Species:
cat

Plain-English summary

A group of 73 cats with signs of pancreatic disease underwent a procedure called fine-needle aspiration (FNA) to collect samples from their pancreas using ultrasound guidance. The study found that the risk of complications from this procedure was similar to that of cats who had other abdominal organs aspirated or no aspirates at all. In all groups, about 11-14% experienced complications within 48 hours, and the survival rates were also comparable. While the FNA was deemed safe, further research is needed to determine how effective it is for diagnosing pancreatic issues in cats.

People also search for: cat pancreatic disease symptoms · fine-needle aspiration safety in cats · ultrasound-guided FNA for cats

Abstract

The safety of fine-needle aspiration (FNA) of the feline pancreas has not been reported. The incidence of complications following ultrasound-guided pancreatic FNA in 73 cats (pancreatic aspirate [PA] cats) with clinical and ultrasonographic evidence of pancreatic disease was compared with complications in two groups of matched control cats also diagnosed with pancreatic disease that either had abdominal organs other than the pancreas aspirated (control FNA, n = 63) or no aspirates performed (control no FNA, n = 61). The complication rate within 48 h of the ultrasound and/or aspirate procedure did not differ among the PA cats (11%), control FNA (14%) or control no FNA (8%) cats. There was no difference in rate of survival to discharge (82%, 84% and 83%, respectively) or length of hospital stay among groups. The cytologic recovery rate for the pancreatic samples was 67%. Correlation with histopathology, available in seven cases, was 86%. Pancreatic FNA in cats is a safe procedure requiring further investigation to establish diagnostic value.

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Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25371007/