X marks the spot – A simple adjunct to the wire localisation technique for impalpable breast lesions

Introduction: The 2009/10 NHSBSP & ABS audit of surgically treated screen detected patients in the UK reported re-excision rates of 25%. Our unit 5 year re-excision rate is 19.8% (p=0.013). The majority of screen detected breast tumours are impalpable and the key to successful management is accurate localisation. The wire-guided technique is the current gold standard but re-excision rates remain high. We describe a simple adjunct to this localisation technique that may account for our lower re-excision rates.