Five hundred and thirty-one closed biopsies have been done in our
general hospital since 1967. Four hundred and eighty-four were for lesions
of bone and forty-seven were for soft-tissue lesions. More than half of the
lesions were infections or nonspecifically reactive. The procedure was done
under local anesthesia in 73 per cent and roentgenographic or
image-intensifier control was generally required. The Craig needle was used
for cancellous bone near vital structures; the Michele trephine, for
cortical or sclerotic bone at a distance from vital structures; and a
special needle was used for soft tissue. Closed biopsy provided an adequate
specimen that was accurately diagnosed in 66 per cent of bone lesions and
in 76 per cent of soft-tissue lesions. This compared favorably with both
aspiration and open-biopsy success rates reported by others, and was
accompanied by a 1 per cent complication rate, mostly neural and mostly in
association with vertebral lesions.