Introduction/Background*Thousands of women each year of varying age undergo Transvaginal (TV) and Transabdominal (TA) guided biopsy’s due to suspected gynaecological cancers, the most common being Ovarian Cancer & Primary Peritoneal Carcinomatosis. This study firstly looked at the efficiency and accuracy in attaining a conclusive histological diagnosis from a biopsy obtained via TA and TV method.

It also looked at whether there was any correlation between complications of TA and TV guided biopsies, and if so, were any confounding factors identified.

Methodology A search was done to identify all individuals who had undergone an ultrasound guided biopsy at Airedale General Hospital between March 2018 and August 2020. Those individuals who had undergone ultrasound guided biopsies at sites other than TA and TV were excluded from this study (e.g. axillary).

Result(s)*A total of 28 individuals had undergone a TV or TA guided biopsy; 10 TV and 18 TA respectively, therefore these individuals were the focus of this study.

TV achieved a 100% success rate (10/10) in obtaining a sample adequate for histological analysis, compared to TA which had a success rate of 89% (16/18).

9/10 samples obtained via TV route achieved a definitive histological diagnosis whereas 15/18 samples obtained via TA route achieved a definitive histological diagnosis.

3 TA guided biopsy’s had to be repeated for differing reasons, compared to TV guided biopsy’s which required no repeat sampling.

3 complications as a result of a biopsy were identified; in all cases this was bleeding. There was no clear association with bleeding and: size of needle used to obtain the biopsy, age of individual or method of biopsy.

Conclusion*TV guided biopsies were considerably more efficient, conclusive and representative of the clinical picture in obtaining a biopsy adequate for histological analysis, hence the reduced need for repeat biopsies.

Biopsies obtained via TV route were more successful at obtaining a definitive histological diagnosis compared to TA.

Bleeding was identified as the most common risk of a TV or TA guided biopsy but no confounding factors were found to correlate with this risk.