Background: The last three decades have seen a gradual shift in the surgical treatment of breast diseases. An example of this is the popularization of minimal invasive procedures. The vacuum-assisted biopsy device (VABD) was originally introduced as a diagnostic tool; however, improvement in technology (by production of larger calibre tools) has now extended the role of VABD to therapeutic procedures.
Data sources: An extensive pubmed and medline search was conducted from 1990 to 2004, all articles involving the use of VABD were retrieved, secondary referencing of suitable articles was also done.
Conclusion: VABD has an expanding role in the surgical treatment of benign breast diseases, improvement in technology may further extend its therapeutic role to the excision of small malignant lesions. However, the perceived benefits of minimal invasive breast surgery need to be validated in randomized controlled studies.