【Learning points】
- The patient must not eat or drink any food or water at least 6-8hours before the procedure if under heavy sedation.
- Lie down and rest for at least 2hours. Please do not get out of bed until bleeding stops.
- When the patient is fully awake, they should drink water and wait for 15-30 minutes without vomiting or choking, then the patient can start eat.
- It might take more than 7 days to receive the formal pathology report, and 1 months for the chromosome test result.
- The nurse will change wound dressing after 24 hours.You need to change the dressing every day until it scabs after discharge.
I. Purpose:
To take the sample of bone marrow tissue from the patient for cytology and histopathology examination to aid in further diagnosis and treatment. Before performing the bone marrow aspiration and biopsy, the specialist will explain all related matters in detail.If you have any questions, please ask the examining physician and related personnel.
II. Indication and Contraindication:
Indication:Leukemia, hematologic diseases(anemia,pancytopenia), to rule out metastasis, storage disease, bone marrow culture, etc.
Contraindication: Bleeding tendency,unstable conditins.
III. Preparation before examination:
- The patient needs to sign an informed consent. A permits of sedation is needed if necessary.
- The patient must not eat or drink any food or water at least 6-8hours before the procedure, if under heavy sedation.
- Sedation and local anesthesia will be adminstened before the aspiration and biopsy
IV. The procedure:
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The doctor/operator will choose the area where the bone marrow
sample will be obtained.The best area is usually around the anterior (Picture 1)or posterior superior iliac spine(Picture 2).
- The doctor will give analgesic and sedative through intravenous route.The area for aspiration will be sterilized. A local analgesic will be injected to the puncture site to make the patient painless.
- The biopsy needle will be inserted through the skin and into the bone to reach the marrow cavity. A small pieces of bone marrow tissue will be obtained. Then, an empty syringe will be connected to the needle to obtain aspiration sample. A small amount of blood from the marrow (0.5~5cc) will be drawn through the needle into the syringe. All of the blood sample will then be taken for smear, cell markers, pathology or chromosomestudy.
- The wound will then be covered with gauze and tapes to stop bleeding after the procedure.
V.After the procedure:
- If the puncture site is on the anterior superior iliac spine, apply pressure with a sandbag and let the patient lie flat and rest for at least 2 hours. If the puncture site is on the posterior superior iliac spine, let the patient lie flat and rest for at least 1-2 hours, and do not allow the child to get out of bed until bleeding has stopped. If bleeding continues at the site after the sandbag is applied or after lying flat for 2 hours, please inform the nurse immediately.
- Please call the nurse immediately if the patient has any of the following symptoms: bleeding noted out of the gauze, irregular heart beat, arms and legs feeling cold, blood pressure being down, cyanosis...etc.
- When the patient is fully awake, drink water and wait for 15-30 minutes without vomiting or choking, then the patient can start eat.
- It might take more than 7 days to get the formal pathology report, and 1 months for the chromosome test result.
- The nurse will change wound dressing after 24 hours.You need to change the wound every day until it scabs after discharged.
- Standard step for wound care:
VI. Conclusion:
After discharged, you need to change the wound every day until it scabs, and keep the wound clean and dry.You need to observe the wound whether redness, swelling, local heat, pain or abnormal discharge(e.g. pus) when you change the dressing there is any above-mentioned finding, please return to the hospital.
VII.Reference:
- Dogan, A., & Demircioglu, S. (2022). Diagnostic importance of bone marrow aspiration evaluation: A single-center study. Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences, 38(4Part-II), 811. http://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.38.4.4797.
- Kaufman,C.S.,Kuo,K.T.,& Anand,K.(2021).Image Guided Bone Marrow Biopsy. Techniques in Vascular and Interventional Radiology, 24(3),100771.http://doi.org/10.13005/bpj/1994.