Endoscopic ultrasonography with fine-needle aspiration: present situation and indications

Endoscopic ultrasonography with fine-needle aspiration is a safe technique that allows the collection of tissue samples for histological diagnosis, as well as therapeutic maneuvers. It has better diagnostic accuracy versus other exploration techniques used for the staging of neoplasms in the gastrointestinal tract as well as in other organs. The risk for complications is extremely low, and the procedure has been shown to be cost-effective in many studies. In this paper we attempt to review the main present indications of endoscopic ultrasonography with fine-needle aspiration.