Patients will receive an invitation to enroll in the SMIL Patient Portal within 48 hours after visiting one of our locations for an appointment. If you did not receive an invitation after 48 hours, or have questions about the Patient Portal, please contact SMIL Medical Records at patientportal@esmil.com.
Benefits and Risks - Stereotactic Breast Biopsy
Benefits
A stereotactic breast biopsy exam is less invasive than surgical biopsy, leaves little or no scarring and can be performed in less than an hour.
A stereotactic breast biopsy exam is an excellent way to evaluate calcium deposits or tiny masses that are not visible on ultrasound.
Compared with open surgical biopsy, the procedure is about a third of the cost.
Generally, the procedure is not painful and the results are as accurate as when a tissue sample is removed surgically.
Recovery time is brief and patients can soon resume their usual activities.
Risks
There is a risk of bleeding and forming a hematoma, or a collection of blood at the biopsy site. The risk however, appears to be less than one percent of patients.
An occasional patient has significant discomfort.
Any procedure where the skin is penetrated carries a risk of infection.
A biopsy of tissue located deep within the breast carries a slight risk that the needle will pass through the chest wall, allowing air around the lung that could collapse a lung. This is a rare occurrence.
Women should always inform their SMIL staff if there is any possibility that they are pregnant.
