An international, multi-institution survey on performing EUS-FNA and fine needle biopsy
AnandV Sahai, Siyu Sun, Jintao Guo, Anthony Yuen Bun Teoh, Paolo Giorgio Arcidiacono, Alberto Larghi, Adrian Săftoiu, AliA Siddiqui, BrendaLucia Arturo Arias, Christian Jenssen, DouglasG Adler, Sundeep Lakhtakia, Dong Wan Seo, Fumihide Itokawa, Marc Giovannini, Girish Mishra, Luis Sabbagh, Atsushi Irisawa, Julio Iglesias‐García, Jan‐Werner Poley, Juan J. Vila, Lachter Jesse, Kensuke Kubota, Evangelos Kalaitzakis, Mitsuhiro Kida, Mohamed M. El Nady, Shuntaro Mukai, Takeshi Ogura, Pietro Fusaroli, Peter Vilmann, Praveer Rai, NamQ Nguyen, Ryan Ponnudurai, Chalapathi Rao Achanta, ToddH Baron, Ichiro Yasuda, Hsiu‐Po Wang, Jinlong Hu, Bowen Duan, ManoopS Bhutani
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) and fine needle biopsy (FNB) are effective techniques that are widely used for tissue acquisition. However, it remains unclear how to obtain high-quality specimens. Therefore, we conducted a survey of EUS-FNA and FNB techniques to determine practice patterns worldwide and to develop strong recommendations based on the experience of experts in the field. METHODS: This was a worldwide multi-institutional survey among members of the International Society of EUS Task Force (ISEUS-TF). The survey was administered by E-mail through the SurveyMonkey website. In some cases, percentage agreement with some statements was calculated; in others, the options with the greatest numbers of responses were summarized. Another questionnaire about the level of recommendation was designed to assess the respondents' answers. RESULTS: ISEUS-TF members developed a questionnaire containing 17 questions that was sent to 53 experts. Thirty-five experts completed the survey within the specified period. Among them, 40% and 54.3% performed 50-200 and more than 200 EUS sampling procedures annually, respectively. Some practice patterns regarding FNA/FNB were recommended. CONCLUSION: This is the first worldwide survey of EUS-FNA and FNB practice patterns. The results showed wide variations in practice patterns. Randomized studies are urgently needed to establish the best approach for optimizing the FNA/FNB procedures.