Answer
In doing a bone marrow biopsy the doctor or surgeon --under appropriate sterile conditions-- inserts a needle into the bone, past the periosteum and into the marrow cavity. By slow suction a small amount of red bone marrow is then withdrawn to be used for laboratory diagnoses.
Work Step by Step
There are many conditions for which bone marrow biopsy may be used as a diagnostic procedure. These include the following:
Anemia, leukemia, thrombocytopenia, lymphomas, metastatic bone cancers, and "true bone cancer." This procedure is also used to check on iron levels and when patients present with fevers of unknown origin.
