A comparison of pain responses, hemodynamic reactivity and fibre type composition between Bergström and microbiopsy skeletal muscle biopsies

This study tested the hypotheses that 1) skeletal muscle biopsies performed with the Bergström needle evoke larger perceptions of pain and greater hemodynamic reactivity compared to biopsies performed with the microbiopsy needle, and 2) both needles yield samples with similar fibre type compositions when samples are collected at similar skeletal muscle depths. Fourteen healthy (age: 21.6 ± 3.2 years; VO(2)peak: 41.5 ± 5.8 mL/kg/min) males (n = 7) and females (n = 7) provided two resting skeletal muscle biopsies, one with each needle type, following a randomized crossover design. Participants completed the short-form McGill Pain Questionnaire and the Brief Pain Inventory before, during, and after the skeletal muscle biopsies. Hemodynamic reactivity was assessed by measuring heart rate (HR) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) at rest and during the biopsy procedures. Immunofluorescence analysis was used to assess fibre type composition in vastus lateralis samples. Compared to the microbiopsy needle, the Bergström needle elicited a larger perception of pain but similar hemodynamic reactivity during the biopsy. Both needles yielded skeletal muscle samples with similar fibre type composition and resulted in similar perceptions of pain and pain-related interference during the post-biopsy recovery period. Collectively, these findings suggest that studies should consider using the microbiopsy needle rather than the Bergström needle unless large amounts of muscle tissue or certain muscle fibre lengths are required. However, future work should determine whether our findings are generalizable to biopsies performed with different procedures and/or types of Bergström/microbiopsy needles.