Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology in the Diagnosis of Intraabdominal Malignancies

The pathological diagnosis of the intraabdominal malignancy is arrived by any one of the biopsy techniques. Such techniques have many disadvantages. FNAC of the intra abdominal malignancy is often a forgotten rather than neglected investigation. But it can be done with confidence to arrive at the tissue diagnosis. Aim: To emphasize FNAC as a sensitive and specific diagnostic tool for intra abdominal malignancies. Material and methods: FNAC was done in 50 cases of palpable intraabdominal malignancies and compared with other conventional biopsy techniques. Results: FNAC gave positive report of malignancy in 80% of cases, specifying the type and differentiation in most cases. FNAC of intra abdominal malignancies had a sensitivity of 86.96% and a specificity of 100%.The overall accuracy rate is 88%. There were no false positive reports. It had no complications. It reduced cost and time for investigations. Conclusion: FNAC was extremely helpful in arriving at a cytological diagnosis of palpable intraabdominal malignancy. This was useful in the further management of the patients. FNAC can be safely used as first line investigation for intraabdominal malignancies.