Fine needle aspiration in plastic surgery outpatients: a retrospective study.

A survey suggested that fine needle aspiration cytology of masses in plastic surgery outpatient clinics was suboptimal. A cytopathologist gave training in the technique and the effectiveness of this intervention was audited. A total of 236 aspirates were taken from 147 patients in the earlier time period and 215 from 149 in the later period. The overall inadequate aspirate rate remained constant at 43%. The most common reasons for poor aspirates were excess blood, unrepresentative adipose tissue and insufficient cellular material. When the specimen was adequate after training, the sensitivity and specificity of the investigation were 96% and 100%, respectively. We present methods for sample optimization. Alternative strategies may be to limit aspiration to one clinician or to refer the patient to a cytopathologist experienced in the technique.