Anwarul Haque, Ambreen Moatasim.
A comparative study of various needle gauges in diagnostic fine needle aspiration cytology.
Int J Pathol Jan ;3(1):25-8.

Objective: To compare various needle gauges (23, 24 and 29) in diagnostic accuracy in aspiration of cytology. Design: A comparative- cross-sectional study. Setting: Islamabad Institute of Pathology & Pakistan institute of medical sciences, Islamabad Subjects: 33 cases with six Fine Needle aspiration Cytology (FNAC) aspirates on each; two each by using 23, 24 butterfly needle and 29 gauge insulin syringe needles Results: With 23-gauge needle, definite diagnosis without any difficulty was reached in 16 (48.5%) cases, a definite diagnosis with some difficulty in 10 (30.3%) cases, a probable diagnosis in 4 (12.1%) and no definite diagnosis in 3 (9.1%) cases. With 24- gauge butterfly needle definitive diagnosis reached in 12 (36.4%), a definite but difficult diagnosis in 14(42.4%), probable in 3 (9.1%), and no diagnosis in 4 (12.1%). Finally, with 29- gauge a definite diagnosis was possible in 18 (54.5%) cases while there were 5 (15%) cases each. in all other categories i.e. definite but with some difficulty, probable and no diagnosis. The P-value was .377 Conclusion: There was no statistical difference among various gauge needles. Since the finer needle the needle better it is, the thinnest needle i.e. 29-gauge needle seems to be the most appropriate needle for routine use in superficially located masses.

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