Do you need a referral for core needle biopsy?

A facility may use an order, referral letter, or specialist consultation as its entry route. Confirm its requirements directly; a request for assessment does not by itself mean that the finding is cancer.

A core needle takes small cylinders of tissue for laboratory examination. The radiology or procedure team matches the requested site with existing ultrasound, mammography, CT, or other imaging and decides which guidance method can reach it safely.

The pre-procedure review covers allergies, bleeding history, medicines, relevant medical conditions, and whether local anaesthetic is suitable. It also confirms which abnormality should be sampled and where the tissue report must be sent, reducing the risk of testing the wrong target or duplicating an earlier procedure.

Ask the imaging or biopsy service what document it accepts and whether it needs the original images as well as written reports. Provide the referring clinician's contact details, the location to be sampled, prior imaging and pathology, your current medicine list, allergies, and any problems with bleeding.

Keep taking prescribed treatment unless the procedure team and prescriber tell you otherwise. In particular, do not independently stop anticoagulant or antiplatelet medicines. Follow the site's instructions about eating, drinking, clothing, transport, and wound care because these can differ with the body area and guidance technique.

After the biopsy, contact the procedure team promptly for bleeding that does not settle with the pressure they recommended, increasing swelling, worsening pain, spreading redness, drainage, or fever. Seek emergency care for trouble breathing, fainting, rapidly enlarging swelling, or severe weakness. Use the discharge instructions for the correct contact route.

Confirm which finding will be sampled, what imaging will guide the needle, which medicines require a plan, how to care for the dressing, and who will discuss the tissue result. Ask what happens if the sample does not explain the imaging abnormality, since repeat sampling or another approach may sometimes be considered.