title: Pain during vacuum-assisted breast biopsy: are there any predictors?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To assess the putative predictors that may be implicated in the pain experienced during stereotactic vacuum-assisted breast biopsy (VABB).
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and thirty-five consecutive women with microcalcifications underwent VABB on the Fischer's table. The visual analogue scale was used to measure the degree of the "average pain" (AP).
  
  
  RESULTS
  At the univariable analysis, the AP was positively associated with the duration of the procedure, the diagnosis of malignant/preinvasive lesions and the volume of blood lost. Although menopausal status was not associated with the AP, within the premenopausal subpopulation, luteal phase was associated with higher VAS score. These findings also persisted at the multivariable ordinal logistic regression model. However, the mean experienced pain was associated neither with the volume of tissue excised nor with the hematoma formation, nor with patients' age.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The aforementioned factors were independent positive predictors of the mean experienced pain during VABB.
authors.affiliation: Breast Unit, 1st Department of Propaedeutic Surgery, Hippokratio Hospital, University of Athens, 114 Vas Sofias Avenue, Athens 116 27, Greece. gzografo@med.uoa.gr
authors.forename: George C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Zografos
authors.forename: Flora
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zagouri
authors.forename: Theodoros N
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Sergentanis
authors.forename: Afrodite
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nonni
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Domeyer
authors.forename: Dimitra
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Koulocheri
authors.forename: Ioannis
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Flessas
authors.forename: Effrosyni
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Panopoulou
authors.forename: Dimosthenis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chrysikos
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bramis
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001707:Biopsy, Needle / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000379:methods; D016063:Blood Loss, Surgical; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006406:Hematoma / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008183:Luteal Phase; D008593:Menopause; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010146:Pain / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D014618:Vacuum