Background: Physician-led thoracic ultrasound (TUS)-guided biopsies provide a prompt route to tissue diagnosis in pleural and peripheral lung malignancies. This retrospective study reviews the diagnostic performance and safety of this approach in a UK District General Hospital.
Methods: Time to biopsy, diagnostic yield and complication rate were analysed in a cohort of 49 patients undergoing ultrasound-guided tissue sampling between September 2019 and December 2022.
Results: Fifty-one TUS-guided biopsies were attempted. Mean time from decision to biopsy was 5 days. The overall diagnostic yield was 82%. Complication rate was low; 3 minor adverse effects were reported which led to no change in routine care.
Conclusion: This single centre retrospective study shows that physician-led TUS-guided biopsy provides a safe and timely method of obtaining a tissue diagnosis in thoracic malignancy. It offers an alternative to computer tomography (CT)-guided or thoracoscopic biopsies and should be considered in selected patients where local procedural expertise exists.
Keywords: TUS-guided biopsy; lung cancer; mesothelioma; pleural disease; thoracic ultrasound; thoracic ultrasound-guided biopsy.