[Aspiration biopsy of pathological formations of the abdominal cavity and retroperitoneal space].

Aspiration diagnostic puncture of a three-dimensional structure in the retroperitoneal space and abdominal cavity palpated through the anterior abdominal wall was performed in 58 patients. The puncture was carried out in cases of pathological processes arising from the stomach, large intestine, pancreas, kidneys, adrenal gland, ovaries, retroperitoneal lymph nodes, mesenchyma, and smooth-muscle tissue, and in appendicular and paravesical abscesses. The findings of cytological examination correctly pointed out the nature of the pathological process in 78% of cases. There were no false-positive results, false-negative results were encountered in 9 out 46 patients. The cytological data allowed the clinical diagnosis to be made precisely in cases in which the organic nature of the three-dimensional structure was doubtful. The expected complications due to possible damage of hollow organs and blood vessels by the needle were not encountered. Metastatic spreading of the tumor which could have been caused by the diagnostic manipulations also did not occur.