Stereotactic Breast Biopsy: What to Know

You lie face down or sit beside a mammography unit while the breast is positioned and compressed. Images from different angles help the clinician locate a calcification or other area that cannot be felt easily. The skin is cleaned and numbed with local anaesthetic.

A small skin opening allows a biopsy needle to collect several tissue samples. A marker may be left at the sampling site so it can be found on future images. Pressure and a dressing are applied afterward. The tissue goes to a laboratory, and your clinician explains when and how results will be shared. A biopsy result does not automatically mean cancer; it identifies what the sampled area contains.

Tell the imaging team about blood-thinning medicines, allergies, pregnancy possibility and any difficulty lying in position. Wear a supportive bra and follow instructions about medicines before the appointment. Afterward, keep the dressing as directed, use a cold pack wrapped in cloth for swelling, and avoid strenuous upper-body activity for the advised period.

Bruising, tenderness and a small amount of bleeding can occur. Do not press directly on an open wound with unwashed hands. Follow the laboratory follow-up plan and ask how the result will be matched with the mammogram findings.

Contact the clinic for bleeding that does not settle with firm pressure, increasing redness or warmth, pus, fever, worsening swelling or pain that is not improving. Seek urgent care for severe allergic symptoms, difficulty breathing, fainting or rapidly expanding breast swelling.

Ask what finding is being sampled, whether you should alter any medicines, how many samples are planned, when the report is expected, and what happens if the result does not explain the imaging appearance. Ask whether another imaging test or procedure is needed.