Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2010 Jul;42(7):520-3.
doi: 10.1016/j.dld.2009.10.002. Epub 2009 Dec 1.

Pancreatic endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration: complication rate and clinical course in a single centre

Silvia Carrara  1 , Paolo Giorgio Arcidiacono, Gianni Mezzi, Maria Chiara Petrone, Cinzia Boemo, Pier Alberto Testoni
Affiliations

Pancreatic endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration: complication rate and clinical course in a single centre

Silvia Carrara et al. Dig Liver Dis. 2010 Jul.

Abstract

Background: Endoscopic Ultrasound-guided Fine Needle Aspiration (EUS-FNA) is effective for obtaining biopsy specimens from pancreatic lesions.

Aim: To determine the frequency and severity of complications after EUS-FNA of solid and cystic pancreatic lesions in a single centre large series of patients.

Patients and methods: From January 2005 to December 2008, information on all patients referred to our unit for pancreatic EUS was systematically entered in a computer database including clinical and morphologic data. Records were reviewed to evaluate whether complications such as haemorrhage, acute pancreatitis, intestinal perforation, or others occurred after EUS-FNA of the pancreas.

Results: A total of 3296 pancreatic EUS were done in four years. In the 1034 pancreatic EUS-FNA, we observed 10 (0.96%) haemorrhages (7 intracystic, 2 in the pancreatic duct, and 1 in a small carcinoma), 2 (0.19%) acute severe pancreatitis and 1 (0.09%) duodenal perforation followed by complicated post-surgical hospitalization and death. The haemorrhages were all self-limiting. Overall, major complications (pancreatitis and perforation) arose in 0.29% of these examinations.

Conclusions: EUS-FNA is safe, with a low risk of severe haemorrhage. Although rare, acute pancreatitis is generally mild or severe, requiring prolonged hospitalization. One fatal complication occurred after duodenal perforation in a patient with duodenal neuroendocrine tumour and pancreatic infiltration.

PubMed Disclaimer