CT-Guided Biopsy or Drainage

Don’t eat solid food or drink liquids other than water for eight hours before your biopsy or drainage procedure. In most cases, you should continue to take your regular medications. If you are diabetic, ask your doctor about your insulin dose. 

Your testing team will ask you to arrive one hour before your procedure. This allows you and the testing team time for preparation.

When you arrive, a radiology nurse will perform a complete pre-procedure workup:  

• Start an intravenous (IV) line 
• Draw blood 
• Meet with the radiologist to discuss the procedure details and obtain your written consent 

A member of the testing team will bring you into the CT room. You will lie on an X-ray table. The testing team will take a CT scan of your body. They will use this to determine the best area of approach for the biopsy or drainage. Depending on how complex your exam is, you may receive pain medication through your IV line. You may also receive anti-anxiety medication to help you relax. 

The radiologist will then use a special soap to clean the skin over that area of your body. You will receive numbing medication in the skin through a small needle. You will feel a pinch as a member of the testing team injects the numbing medicine. You should not feel any pain after this injection. 

The radiologist will then insert a small needle through the numbed skin and into the area of interest. You may feel some pressure when this happens. Once the needle is in the right place, the radiologist will remove the tissue sample or fluid. They will remove the needle, clean your skin again and apply a bandage over the area. 

Procedures take from 30 to 90 minutes. You should expect to spend another two to four hours at the hospital after the procedure. During this time, you will be under close observation while your anesthetic wears off and you recover. 

You will likely feel well, but you may have some tenderness around the testing area. Here are some guidelines to care for yourself after this procedure: 

• Take it easy. Do not strain, lift heavy objects or do physical exercise for the first 24 hours after your procedure. 
• Do not take aspirin or aspirin-like products (such as Motrin, Advil, Nuprin or Aleve) for three weeks unless your doctor says it's all right. 
• Keep the area of skin around the insertion site clean and dry. 

After your test, we will send the pathology results from the tissue sample or drained fluid to your doctor about seven days after the biopsy. They will discuss the results with you. They also will let you know how the results impact the next steps of your care plan.