Technique for suction biopsy of the rectal mucosa.

Rectal biopsy is useful in the diagnosis of both inflammatory and non-inflammatory conditions of the bowel (Gear and Dobbins, 1968). A forceps technique is of most value in the diagnosis of carcinoma and other circumscribed lesions (Gabriel, Dukes, and Bussey, 1951). For the study of diffuse mucosal lesions a suction biopsy technique is preferable to forceps biopsy because it allows better microanatomical orientation of the biopsy specimen. A suction biopsy instrument described briefly by Dick and Grayson (1961) has proved convenient for this purpose and is being increasingly used. A detailed description of this instrument and its mode of use is, therefore, reported here.