Utility and safety of cobalt chromium needles for endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration: a retrospective single-center study

Abstract

Background: Endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) is a standard method for obtaining specimens of mediastinal and hilar lesions, and several types of needle of various sizes and materials are available. This study aimed to compare the utility and safety of two needles, cobalt chromium (CC) and stainless steel (SS), for EBUS-TBNA. Methods: This retrospective study included data of patients who underwent EBUS-TBNA with a 22-gauge needle made from either SS (38 patients, 121 punctures) or CC (39 patients, 145 punctures), and procedure time, histological data, complication rates were compared. Results: There were no significant differences between the groups in the baseline characteristics of the patients or lesions or in the complication rates. Although diagnostic yields in each patient who underwent EBUS-TBNA with the two needle types were similar, significantly shorter procedure time (22 min vs. 26 min, p = 0.007), diagnostic histologic sampling yield in each sample (71.0% vs. 58.7%, p = 0.039), fewer samples with cartilage alone (1.4% vs. 6.6%, p = 0.047) and fewer samples containing cartilage (7.6% vs. 16.5%, p = 0.034) were seen in the CC group compared with that in SS needle group. Conclusion: Compared with SS needles, CC needle for EBUS-TBNA showed significant shorter procedure time and higher ratio of getting diagnostic histological specimens in each sample. This might be because of better ability of CC needle to puncture through the trachea and bronchial cartilage to get appropriate lymph node sampling.