Free-hand CT-guided needle for biopsy and drainage of intracerebral lesions. Ten years experience.

A series of 227 needle procedures monitored by serial CT scans was performed by free-hand technique on 147 patients at two suburban hospitals over a 10 year period. Under local anesthesia, 75 suspected brain tumors were biopsied; 52 intracerebral hematomas were evacuated, and 28 cerebral abscesses were drained. There was one complication of postoperative hemorrhage.