FLUID CYTOLOGY

The procedure is done in the following way:

• You sit on a bed or on the edge of a chair or bed. Your head and arms rest on a table.
• A small area of skin on your back is cleaned. Numbing medicine (local anesthetic) is injected in this area.
• The doctor inserts a needle through the skin and muscles of the chest wall into the pleural space.
• Fluid is collected.
• The needle is removed. A bandage is placed on the skin.

The fluid sample is sent to a laboratory. There, it is examined under the microscope to determine what the cells look like and whether they are abnormal.