Clinic based biopsy vs. theatre biopsy of bone and soft tissue extremity tumours: comparable diagnostic modalities.

OBJECTIVE To compare the diagnostic accuracy of clinic-based biopsy versus theatre biopsy against final histopathology in patients presenting with extremity tumours. METHODS The retrospective study was conducted at Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, and comprised record of patients who underwent biopsy procedure of extremity tumours from January 2008 to December 2011. Data regarding socio-demographic status, disease-related and procedure-related variables were collected from the files. Histopathology report of biopsy was compared with the final histopathology after definite procedure of the tumour for concordance. RESULTS Of the 87 patients whose records were reviewed, 42(48%) had undergone biopsy in theatre and 45(52%) in clinic. The overall median age was 29 years (Inter-quartile range: 18-58 years). As compared to final histopathology after the definite procedure, diagnostic accuracy of theatre and clinic-based biopsy was 97.7% vs. 95.5% respectively. Surgical site infection was observed in 2(5%) in theatre and in 1(2.2%) in clinic. CONCLUSIONS Clinic-based biopsy was accurate and safe with diagnostic accuracy comparable to theatre-based biopsy. Clinic-based biopsy, being cost-efficient along with low morbidity, should be preferred in patients with extremity tumours.