FNAC - A Diagnostic Tool in Cervical Node Enlargement in a Tertiary Care Hospital

Background: Cervical lymphadenopathy is relatively common clinical observation. Cervical lymphadenopathy is a diagnostic dilemma to the surgeon. The various avenues available for the analysis of cervical node enlargement are clinical evaluation, aspiration cytology, and open biopsy. Aim: To study the role of the FNAC in diagnosis of cervical node enlargement after correlating with a lymph node biopsy.  Methods: This prospective observational study was conducted in Department of Surgery, Geetanjali Medical College and Hospital, Udaipur. All the patients aged more than 15 years presented with neck swelling were enrolled. Detailed history will be taken followed by physical examination in all the patient with cervical lymphadenopathy. Results: Majority of the cases in this study had non-neoplastic causes for cervical lymphadenopathy in which tuberculosis is most common. Male to female ratio of 1.3:1. Maximum incidence was found to be tuberculosis. Maximum number of cases was in the age group of 21 to 30 years. The diagnostic accuracy of FNAC for tuberculous lymphadenopathy is 91.66%. The diagnostic accuracy of FNAC for nonspecific lymphadenitis was 87.50%. For secondary’s neck and lymphoma were 100%, 100% respectively.  Conclusions: FNAC is a simple and safe procedure, which can be employed on outpatient basis. FNAC is found to be a frontline investigation of choice with biopsy and histopathological examination done for confirmation.