Program including abstracts as pdf available here

P 44
Title
ONE STOP NECK LuMP CLINIC – THE WAy FORWARD
Authors
P. NIXON 1 , A. GANGuLy 1 , T. GILES 1 , P. SMITH 1 , F. E. WHITE 1
Affiliations
1 Royal Liverpool University Hospital, Liverpool, UNITED KINGDOM
Body
Objectives:
In the UK, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence recommends specialist one-stop neck
lump clinics for management of patients with head and neck lumps. However such clinics have
cost, staffing and workload implications. The Royal Liverpool University Hospital runs a onestop
neck lump clinic based on the recommended framework.
The aim of this performance review was to compare our inadequacy rate with published figures
in the literature and to assess the role of immediate cytological examination.
Methods:
274 patients who had US guided cytological evaluation between November 2008 and May 2009
were included in the study. The final cytology report was used to assess the overall inadequacy
rate. If more than one pass was required to obtain an adequate sample, then the number
and reason for multiple passes to was recorded.
Results:
The overall inadequacy rate was 4 % which compared well with the literature. If only a single
pass had been taken and sent directly to the laboratory, the figures suggest that the inadequacy
rate would have been up to a 15 %.
Conclusions:
The review shows that one stop neck lump clinics are extremely effective for patient management.
It confirms that onsite cytological assessment significantly reduces the inadequacy rate
compared to FNA samples sent directly to the laboratory. This results in a reduction in clinic
time and repeat visits and helps the hospital comply with the current waiting time initiatives.
It also has benefits for patient anxiety in helping to provide them with a more immediate
diagnosis.
Keywords
Neck,Ultrasonography,Biopsy, Fine-Needle
POSTerS
159