Pleural Biopsy

Pleural biopsy is one of the diagnostic procedure which may  cause lot of anxiety in  the patient.

Procedure

Pleural biopsies may be preformed surgically through a small thoracotomy incision or during thoracentesis, using a cope needle. Needle biopsy is a relatively safe, simple diagnostic procedure that is useful for determining the cause of pleural effusions. The needle removes a small fragment of parietal pleura, which is used  for microscopic cellular examination and culture. If bacteriologic studies are needed, the biopsy  specimen should be obtained before chemotherapy is begun.
Procedure Care

Obtain informed consent and instruct the client as to the need and purpose of the test. The preparation and positioning of a client for pleural biopsy is similar to that for thoracentesis. The test is painful, and the client will need to hold still. Assist the client and reassure him or her. The test takes 15-30 minutes to complete.

Postprocedure  Care

Rare complications include temporary pain form intercostals nerve  injury, pneumothorax, and hemothorax. After the biopsy procedure, observe for indications of complications (e.g.  dyspnea, pallor, diaphoresis, excessive pain). A pneumothorax associated with needle biopsy may  develop. Chest tubes and chest X-ray studies are usually done after the procedure. The development of hemothorax is  indicated by  a substantial increase in fluid in  the pleural space and requires immediate thoracentesis.