Is it okay to do a biopsy if there is inflammation?

When something abnormal happens to the body and we go to the hospital for treatment, most doctors will ask us to do a relevant test before confirming the cause of the disease. Tests such as blood tests, urine tests or biopsy can analyze the health status of the local part of the body. However, the choice of examination method often depends on the patient's cause of illness. So, can a biopsy be done when there is inflammation?

1. Biopsy is referred to as "biopsy", also known as surgical pathology examination, or "external examination" for short. It refers to the technology of removing diseased tissue from the patient's body by cutting, clamping or puncturing for pathological examination in response to the needs of diagnosis and treatment.

It is the most important part of diagnostic pathology. It can make a clear histopathological diagnosis for the vast majority of cases submitted for examination and is used as the final clinical diagnosis.

Purpose of biopsy

(1) Assist clinicians in diagnosing lesions or provide clues for disease diagnosis.

(2) Understand the nature and development trend of the lesion and determine the prognosis of the disease.

(3) Verify and observe drug efficacy and provide reference for clinical drug use.

(4) Participate in clinical research, discover new diseases or new types, and provide pathological histological basis for clinical research.

2. Scope of application

(1) Organs and tissues removed during surgery, such as the appendix, thyroid gland, gallbladder, lymph nodes, etc.

(2) Puncture and extraction of tissue, such as liver, kidney, and lymph node tissue.

(3) Small pieces of tissue removed from the lesion site, including those removed by endoscopes such as fiber gastroscopes and fiber bronchoscopes.

3. Material

(1) The anatomical location, color, volume, texture of the specimen, the presence of a mass, that is, whether the mass has a capsule; whether the capsule is intact; and the morphological changes of accompanying tissues such as skin and lymph nodes.

(2) If the specimen can be cut, it should be cut open to observe the color, texture, presence of bleeding, necrosis, nodules, cysts, the presence of contents in the cysts, and the nature of the contents.

(3) The length of the esophagus and appendix should be measured, and the color of their serous and mucous membranes and the presence of adhesions should be observed.

Precautions

(1) The sampling site should be accurate, avoiding necrotic tissue or obvious secondary infection areas. The sample should be obtained at the junction of the lesion and normal tissue. The lesion tissue and a small amount of surrounding normal tissue should be obtained. The size of the sample should generally be 1.5 cm × 1.5 cm × 0.2 cm.

(2) The sample should be collected at a certain depth, requiring a vertical incision parallel to the depth of the lesion. The gastric mucosal biopsy should include the muscularis mucosa.

(3) For specimens with a cavity, all layers of the tube wall should be sampled; specimens with a capsule should be sampled as much as possible; and accessory tissues such as lymph nodes should be sampled for microscopic observation.

(4) Avoid squeezing when cutting or clamping tissue, and avoid using toothed forceps to prevent deformation of the tissue that may affect the diagnosis.

(5) Living tissue with a diameter less than 0.5 cm must be wrapped in transparent paper or gauze to avoid loss.

(6) Bone tissue should be decalcified before sampling.