A minimally invasive core needle biopsy procedure has been proven to be nearly as effective as any open surgery, new research has found.

New analysis looking at data obtained from more than 100 studies found that core needle biopsy is nearly as accurate as surgical biopsy.

According to the US Government’s Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality study, the rate of complications for core needle biopsy is less than 1%, whereas surgical biopsy complication rates varied between 2% and 10%.

Core needle biopsies, carried out using local anaesthesia, use a large hollow centred needle to draw out a core sample from the suspicious lesion.