Bone marrow aspiration

Question 1

Discuss aspiration of bone marrow

Answer 1

• Iliac crest
• Local anaesthetic given
• Bone marrow needle used (Salah)
• Marrow aspirated and smeared on slide
• Stained with Romanowsky technique

Question 2

Discuss trephine bone marrow biopsy

Answer 2

Allows for better assessment of cellularity and presence of infiltration

Usually taken from posterior iliac crest

Local anaesthetic given

Longer and wider needle used that that used for aspiration

Bone core is fixed in formaline and is decalcified before sectioning and staining

Question 3

Why is bone marrow aspiration/ biopsy useful?

Answer 3

Allows for assessment of haematopoiesis

Allows for examination of non-haem conditions that infiltrate the bone marrow e.g. TB, parasitic infections and metastatic deposits