Differences in Pain Perceptions between Automated Breast Ultrasound and Digital Screening Mammography

Abstract

A prospective single-site survey was performed to gauge perceived pain during automated breast ultrasound (ABUS) and digital x-ray mammography (XRM). Patients also described differences in duration of the exams, provided their bra size, and indicated whether they would recommend ABUS to a friend. Pain was measured on a Likert-type visual analog scale (1–10). Participants were 199 female volunteers who also participated in the prospective, multicenter, nationwide clinical research study SOMO•INSIGHT. There was a mean pain and/or discomfort score of 6.41 (± 2.41) for XRM and a mean score of 1.86 (± 1.24) for ABUS ( P = .001). Bra size and perceived examination duration played no role in determining patient pain and/or discomfort. One hundred percent of patients who participated said that they would recommend ABUS to a friend. These data suggest that if ABUS is proven to be a valuable adjunctive screening test for breast cancer among women with dense breast tissue, its routine use will be well tolerated by patients.