Benefits of Minimally Invasive Surgery Biopsy Techniques in the Chest and Abdomen

Key Points  Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS) biopsy techniques can be performed under standing sedation and local anesthesia, in very ill patients and with reduced complication rate. Improved visualization represents the main advantage vs. other transcutaneous biopsy techniques.  Biopsy sample size is also greatly amplified with MIS biopsy techniques, improving the number of analyses performed and the diagnostic potential of the procedure. Particularly for the lung, MIS biopsy techniques developed allow for large and safe sample collection.  MIS full-thickness intestinal biopsy can be technically challenging; hybrid approaches should be considered when instrumentation and expertise is lacking.