title: Pain levels associated with ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy for neck masses.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The purpose of this study was to evaluate the pain levels associated with ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) of neck masses.
  
  
  METHODS
  The pain immediately and 5 minutes after the procedure without use of local anesthesia was evaluated via 100-mm visual analog scale (VAS), 11-point numeric rating scale (NRS), and 4-category verbal rating scale (VRS) in 154 patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean scores (SDs) for VAS, NRS, and VRS immediately versus 5 minutes after the procedure were 30.5 (24.4) versus 7.3 (13.7), 3.3 (2.2) versus 0.8 (1.6), and 1.3 (0.6) versus 0.3 (0.6), respectively (all ps < .001). Immediately after ultrasound-guided FNAB, the pain scores associated with lymph node aspiration (VAS, 36.7 [25.5]; NRS, 3.9 [2.1]) were significantly higher (both ps < .05) than those associated with thyroid nodule aspiration (VAS, 25.0 [21.2]; NRS, 2.8 [2.0]).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Ultrasound-guided FNAB of thyroid nodules was less painful than that of cervical lymphadenopathy. Most patients tolerated mild transient pain after the procedure without use of local anesthesia. Nevertheless, local anesthesia was necessary for the small subgroup of patients who experienced significant pain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Far Eastern Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; Oriental Institute of Technology, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Wu-Chia
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Lo
authors.forename: Po-Wen
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Chi-Te
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Shu-Tin
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Yeh
authors.forename: Li-Jen
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Liao
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D044963:Biopsy, Fine-Needle / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008206:Lymphatic Diseases / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain; D010147:Pain Measurement; D012468:Salivary Gland Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology; D016606:Thyroid Nodule / Q000473:pathology; D018084:Ultrasonography, Interventional
keywords: fine needle aspiration biopsy; local anesthesia; neck mass; pain scale; ultrasound