There are lymph nodes all over the human body that perform important functions associated with immunity. Lymph nodes are found in areas of the body such as the armpits, the chest, belly and even behind the ears. Under normal circumstances, one may not even notice the presence of these nodes in the body. However, when a particular area of the body is affected by an infection or disease, the lymph nodes in that area may swell up and become tender. Lymph node swelling is a common reaction to an infection. However, it may also be caused by cancer. In order to figure out what the underlying cause of the condition is, the doctor will need to perform a lymph node biopsy on the patient.
An axillary lymph node biopsy is associated with the armpit. During an axillary lymph node biopsy procedure, an affected lymph node in the arm pit will be cut away in order to present a sample to a laboratory for analysis. Once the analysis is complete, it will be possible to identify the root cause of the problem by analyzing the chemical structure of the cells that have been removed. This is used for a cancer diagnosis as well as to diagnose any bacterial infection or any other type of infection. The axillary lymph node biopsy results are usually available within some hours of the test. However, for a bacterial culture, the results of an axillary lymph node biopsy may take several days as it takes time to grow the bacterial culture and identify the bacterium that has caused the infection.
An axillary lymph node biopsy may be done using a fine needle, a core needle or with an open biopsy. An open biopsy is one where the skin is sliced open to reveal the affected node which is then removed. Needle biopsies are faster and less painful. These can be used for large lymph nodes as it is easy to access such nodes.
An axillary lymph node biopsy may also be done in order to remove the entire node if it is suspected to be affected by cancer. There are a few axillary lymph node biopsy complications that could occur and should be taken care of. In some cases, the wound site itself gets infected because of the underlying infection and the exposure of the wound to air. Extra care must be taken to ensure that the wound is properly cleaned and treated with antiseptic to avoid such an issue.