Surgeon's Corner: Obtaining a Bone Biopsy

The biopsy site is aseptically prepared and draped. A small skin incision is made at the site. The Jamshidi needle is assembled with the stylet in place, and the needle is inserted perpendicular to the bone into the outer cortex using a twisting motion. The stylet is removed once the needle has passed through the outer cortex, and the needle is advanced, rotated, and then rocked to remove a core sample. The core sample is removed from the needle, and the needle can be reinserted into the original hole to collect additional biopsy specimens. The core samples collected should be rolled on a glass slide for a cytological preparation and evaluated while the patient is still under anesthesia to ensure that a diagnostic core sample has been collected. A fine needle aspirate from the marrow cavity may also be collected via the original hole in the bone. Surgical glue is used to close the small skin incision.

Surgeon’s Corner is intended as a forum for those with specialized expertise to share their approaches to various techniques and procedures. As such, the content reflects one expert’s approach and is not subject to peer review.