22-gauge core vs 22-gauge aspiration needle for endoscopic ultrasound-guided sampling of abdominal masses

Table 5 Published comparative trials regarding EchoTip ProCore needle performance

Ref.	Design	No. of lesions	Target	Needles	Diagnostic yield	Sample adequacy	Comments
Witt et al[32]	Retrospective	18 per needle type	Diverse	PC 22G vs AN 22G	Equivalent	Equivalent	PC: fewer passes needed
Strand et al[33]	RCT	32 punctured by both needles	Pancreas	PC 22G vs AN 22G	AN > PC	Equivalent	Only 2 passes with PC vs 5 with AN, PC technical failure in 16 cases
Bang et al[34]	RCT	28 per needle type	Pancreas	PC 22G vs AN 22G	Equivalent	Equivalent	On-site cytopathologist, needles of different manufactures
Lee et al[35]	RCT	58 per needle type	Pancreas	PC 22/25G vs AN 22/25G	Equivalent	N/A	On-site cytopathologist, PC: fewer passes needed
Hucl et al[36]	RCT	145 punctured by both needles	Diverse	PC 22G vs AN 22G	Equivalent	Equivalent	Only histology, PC: fewer passes needed
Mavrogenis et al[37]	RCT	28 punctured by both needles	Pancreas + LNs	PC 25G vs AN 22G	Equivalent	Equivalent	Different needle gauges, “slow pull” sampling technique
Vanbiervliet et al[39]	RCT	80 punctured by both needles	Pancreas	PC 22G vs AN 22G	Equivalent	Cytology: equivalent	Only 1 pass with PC vs 2 with AN
						Histology: PC > AN
Kim et al[40]	RCT	10 with AN, 12 with PC	SET	PC 22G vs AN 22G	PC > AN	PC > AN	Only histology, PC: fewer passes needed
Alatawi et al[41]	RCT	50 per needle type	Pancreas	PC 22G vs AN 22G	Equivalent	Equivalent, cellularity: PC > AN	Equivalent results after 2 passes with PC vs 3 with AN

PC: ProCore needle; AN: Aspiration needle; RCT: Randomized controlled trial; SET: Subepithelial tumors; LNs: Lymph nodes.