Understanding Endoscopic Ultrasound-Guided Fine Needle Aspiration and Biopsy (EUS-FNA/FNB)

Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) has been integral in transforming endoscopic GI practice from just an imaging model to more of an interventional tool. Beginning with the initial reports of EUS-FNA being used in 1992, it has been part of a protocol ever since in diagnosing and staging algorithms for evaluating benign and malignant diseases of the Gl tract (and adjacent organs). EUS-FNA and FNB have been seen as major breakthroughs in technology in their ability to provide definitive evidence of a malignancy.