Performance of Advanced Practice Providers compared with that of Physicians in Ultrasound-Guided Fine-Needle Aspiration of Thyroid Nodules and Superficial Neck Masses.

Advanced practice providers (APPs) perform ultrasound (US)-guided fine-needle aspiration (FNA) procedures for superficial neck lesions after appropriate training in some interventional radiology practices. This allows physicians additional time to be involved in more complex procedures. This report compared the performance between physicians and APPs. This observational retrospective study analyzed data obtained from October 2017 to December 2019. A total of 309 patients underwent US-guided FNA biopsies for superficial neck lesions. The positive diagnostic rates of FNA biopsies were evaluated for both groups. APPs and physicians performed 212 (68.6%) and 97 (31.4%) FNAs, respectively. Biopsies considered diagnostic for the APP and physician groups were 195 (92.0%) and 86 (88.7%), respectively (P = .345). There was no statistically significant difference in diagnostic rates between the 2 types of providers when performing US-guided FNA for superficial neck lesions.