Pain during vacuum-assisted breast biopsy: Are there any predictors?

IntroductionTo assess the putative predictors that may be implicated in the pain experienced during stereotactic vacuum-assisted breast biopsy (VABB).Materials and methodsOne hundred and thirty-five consecutive women with microcalcifications underwent VABB on the Fischer's table. The visual analogue scale was used to measure the degree of the “average pain” (AP).ResultsAt the univariable analysis, the AP was positively associated with the duration of the procedure, the diagnosis of malignant/preinvasive lesions and the volume of blood lost. Although menopausal status was not associated with the AP, within the premenopausal subpopulation, luteal phase was associated with higher VAS score. These findings also persisted at the multivariable ordinal logistic regression model. However, the mean experienced pain was associated neither with the volume of tissue excised nor with the hematoma formation, nor with patients' age.ConclusionThe aforementioned factors were independent positive predictors of the mean experienced pain during VABB.