Role of radiological-assisted cytology in intra-abdominal lesions: A 3 years’ experience in a tertiary care center

BACKGROUND: Fine needle aspiration (FNA) with assistance of radiological tools such as ultrasonography (USG) and computed tomography (CT) is an effective and safe technique for diagnosing intra-abdominal neoplastic and nonneoplastic lesions. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: (1) To assess the utility of image-guided cytology in the diagnosis of intra-abdominal lesions. (2) To categorize various intra-abdominal lesions according to their site of occurrence and study their cytomorphological features. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Pathology between January 2012 and January 2015. A total of 174 cases with intra-abdominal lesions were included in the study. RESULTS: In our study, diagnostic yield was 84.5%. The mean age was found to be 52 years with M: F ratio 1.1:1. We found that 92 (52.87%) cases were in hepatobiliary region, 33 (18.96%) in adnexa, 13 (7.47%) in pancreatic-ampullary region, 14 (8.04%) in unknown abdominal lumps, 8 (4.6%) in lymph nodes, 6 (3.4%) in renal, 5 (2.87%) in retroperitoneum, 2 (1.1%) in omental nodules, and 1 (0.5%) in splenic mass. Of total 174 cases, 106 (61%) cases were malignant, 10 (5.7%) benign, 16 (9.1%) inflammatory, 27 (15.5%) inadequate, and 15 (8.7%) suspicious for malignancy. CONCLUSION: Ultrasound and CT-guided FNA cytology had a significant role in diagnosis of palpable and nonpalpable intra-abdominal lesions. Being a relatively quick and safe method, it also avoids invasive diagnostic procedures.