Using three surveys, a comparative assessment of needle performance and patient preference for 27-gauge (G) and 29G needles for glatiramer acetate administration for multiple sclerosis therapy was performed. Eligible patients participated in a specialty pharmacy program and administered glatiramer acetate for ≥1 month. In Survey 1 on the 27G needle, 545 (82.70%) patients reported no needle prob...

IT occurred to me some time ago that, if one used a straight needle so that in placing sutures there was no bending force applied by the needle-holder, this needle could be greatly reduced in diameter. This smaller cross-section would in turn allow it to penetrate tough tissue such as the cornea much more easily. Further, I felt that with a straight needle one could place sutures much more accu...

and nonpalpable breast lesions is a safe and effective alternative to fine-needle aspiration and needle-localized breast excisional biopsies (1, 2). It can reduce the need for a two-stage procedure and can improve the surgical and oncological outcomes (3). However, one disadvantage of this technique for sampling breast cancer is the possible seeding of malignant tumor cells along the needle tra...

We present two patients both of whom had severe morbid obesity and needed placement of a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) for albumin and visceral protein replenishment. The first patient was a 53-year-old woman (body mass index [BMI], 85.8; weight, 191kg) who presented with respiratory distress and dysphagia; the second was a 26-year-old woman (BMI, 88.6; weight, 259kg) who presented ...

BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIMS The optimal core biopsy needle for endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) is unknown. The principle aim of this study is to compare outcomes of EUS-fine-needle biopsy (EUS-FNB) with a new 19-gauge EUS histology needle (ProCore, Cook Medical Inc., Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States) to a conventional 19-gauge Tru-Cut biopsy (EUS-TCB) needle (19G, Quick-Core, Cook Medical...

Endoscopic ultrasonography-guided fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) has become a safe and accurate diagnostic tool for lesions arising from organs adjacent to the gastrointestinal tract, as well as those arising from the gastrointestinal wall. To improve diagnostic accuracy, devices such as needles with side ports have been developed, but studies evaluating the clinical usefulness of such enhanc...

Real-time intraoperative B-scan optical coherence tomography (OCT) visualization of intraocular tissues is a desired ophthalmic feature during retinal procedures. A novel intraocular 25-gauge B-mode forward-imaging OCT probe was combined with a 36-gauge needle into a prototype instrument. Imaging of the needle tip itself and the effects of saline injection into a gelatin phantom were performed....

results first needle placement without imaging resulted in blood return in 1/199 participants and positive epidurography in 179/199 (90%). minimal needle repositioning resulted in a positive epidurogram in the remaining 19 attempts. no intravascular injection patterns were observed. conclusions this compares favorably to published success rates of fluoroscopically-guided technique and was well ...