Pneumothorax post CT-guided fine needle aspiration biopsy for lung nodules : our experience in King Hussein Medical Center

Abstract EN

Objective : To determine the rate of pneumothorax post CT-guided fine needle aspiration biopsy and the contributing factors.

Methods : This descriptive retrospective study was held at King Hussein Medical Center in the period between April 2012 and March 2014, and included 105 patients who were diagnosed to have lung nodules.

All patients had a CT-guided fine needle aspiration biopsy for histological diagnosis.

Operator, site and location of the nodule, emphysematous lung condition, and pneumothorax detection by CT-scan and chest X-ray were all reviewed.

Results : There were 83 males (79 %) and 22 females (21 %).

Age ranged from 35 to 77 years (mean 62 ± 10.2).

Right sided nodules constituted 50.3 % of the studied sample, 79.1 % of the nodules were located peripherally (83 patients) and 19 % had associated emphysematous lung changes, 19 patients (18.1 %) had post fine needle aspiration biopsy pneumothorax.

Of those, seven patients (36.8 %) were detected immediately on CT-scan table, eight patients (42.1 %) were detected four hours later on chest X-ray, four patients were missed and 13 patients were treated with chest drain.

Eleven patients (57.9 %) out of the 19 who had pneumothorax had central lesions while eight (42.1 %) had peripheral lesions and only six patients (31.5 %) had emphysematous changes.

Conclusion : Pneumothorax post CT-guided fine needle aspiration is still a common complication in our center and there was no single factor contributing to it.