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.