Ultrasound-Guided Cervical Lymph Node Sampling Performed by Respiratory Physicians

A variety of disease processes investigated by respiratory physicians can lead to cervical lymphadenopathy. Ultrasound (US) has revolutionised respiratory investigations, and neck ultrasound (NUS) is increasingly recognised as an additional important skill for respiratory physicians.

We aimed to assess the feasibility of NUS performed by respiratory physicians in the workup of patients with mediastinal lymphadenopathy.

This is a single-centre retrospective cohort study. All patients that underwent US-guided cervical lymph node sampling were included. The diagnostic yield is reported, and specimen adequacy is compared for respiratory physicians and radiologists.

Over 5 years, 106 patients underwent NUS-guided lymph node sampling by respiratory physicians compared to 35 cases performed by radiologists. There was no significant difference in the adequacy of sampling between the two groups (respiratory physicians 91.5% [95% CI 84.5-96%] compared to 82.9% [95% CI 66.4-93.4%] for radiologists [p = 0.2]). In the respiratory physician group, a diagnosis was achieved based on lymph node sampling in 89 cases (84%). Neck lymph node sampling was the only procedure performed to obtain tissue in 48 cases (45.3%).

NUS and sampling performed by respiratory physicians are feasible and associated with an adequacy rate comparable to that of radiologists. It can reduce the number of invasive procedures performed in a selected group of patients. Guidelines for training and competency assessment are required.