Investigation of complications of pneumocentesis biopsy in the elderly / 中华老年医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the difference in occurrence of pneumothorax and bleeding under lung biopsy between the elderly and the non-elderly. Methods A total of 297 consecutive patients were involved in the study and divided into non- elderly group (＜ 60 yrs,122 cases),and elderly group (≥60 yrs,175 cases).Eighteen gauge (18G) cutting needles were used for biopsy with computed tomography (CT) guidance. Biopsy samples were detected by histology and cytology pathology. Results Pneumothorax occured in 108 of 297 biopsies (36.4％),pneumothorax rate was higher in elderly group (76 cases,43.4％) than in non-elderly group(32 cases,26.2％) (x2=9.19,P＜0.01).No statistical significance was found in different degrees of pneumothorax between the two groups.Perifocal hemorrhage occured in 156 of 297 biopsies (52.5％),higher frequency of hemorrhage occurred in elderly group (105 cases,60.0％) than in non-elderly group(51 cases,41.8％)(x2=9.55,P＜0.01),and the more flake bleeding vas found in elderly group than in nonelderly group(x2 =20.28,P＜0.01). Conclusions In CT guided coaxial cutting needle biopsy,the incidence of pneumothorax and considerably bleeding are higher in the elderly than in non-elderly.