Breast Biopsy
Biopsy, Breast
How To Prepare
Tell your doctor if you:
- Are taking any medicines.
- Are allergic to any medicines, including anesthetics.
- Are allergic to latex.
- Have any bleeding problems or take blood thinners, such as aspirin, heparin, warfarin (Coumadin), enoxaparin sodium (Lovenox), or clopidogrel bisulfate (Plavix).
- Are or might be pregnant.
You will be asked to sign a consent form. Talk to your doctor about any concerns you have regarding the need for the biopsy, its risks, how it will be done, or what the results will mean. To help you understand the importance of the biopsy, fill out the medical test information form
(What is a PDF document?).
If you take a blood thinner, you will probably need to stop taking it for a week before the biopsy.
If a breast biopsy is to be done under local anesthesia, you do not need to do anything else to prepare for the biopsy.
If the biopsy is to be done under general anesthesia, follow the instructions exactly about when to stop eating and drinking, or your surgery may be canceled. If your doctor has instructed you to take your medicines on the day of surgery, do so using only a sip of water. An intravenous line (IV) will be put in your arm, and a sedative medicine will be given about an hour before the biopsy. Arrange for someone to drive you home if you will be having general anesthesia or are going to be given a sedative.
Other tests, such as blood tests, may be done before your breast biopsy.
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| Author: | Bets Davis, MFA | Last Updated: April 29, 2009 |
| Medical Review: | Joy Melnikow, MD, MPH - Family Medicine Brent Shoji, MD - General Surgery | |
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| Topic Contents | |
| Test Overview | |
| Why It Is Done | |
 | How To Prepare |
| How It Is Done | |
| How It Feels | |
| Risks | |
| Results | |
| What Affects the Test | |
| What To Think About | |
| References | |
| Credits | |