Ask The Doctor

Dear Ask The Doctor: My daughter is 5 years old and 6 months ago i noticed a swollen lymph node in her neck that didnt go down so i took her to the doctors..they said 2 keep an eye on it, she now has more lumps around the same area in her neck and they are getting larger by the month...what could this be? the doc has referred her for a biopsy. how will this be done on a 5 yr old? sorry couldnt find the exact topic i wanted to put this under so had to put it here

Dear Talia: Swollen neck lymph nodes in a 5 yr old girl could be cause by several diseases.  Most often a viral illness such as the common cold or the ‘flu’ can cause lymph nodes in the neck to become swollen. However this is usually temporary and resolves after about 2-3 weeks. There are more serious diseases to consider as well including lymphoma (cancer of the lymph nodes) and leukemia (cancer of the blood). For those reasons a biopsy is required to determine the cause of the lymph node enlargement.

To perform a lymph node biopsy children are normally heavily sedated or may put under general anaesthesia. The surgeon incises the skin over the lymph node to be removed and does the necessary dissection to remove either a portion or all of the lymph node. The procedure is performed on an outpatient basis and thus the patient is allowed home after the procedure.

The specimen is then sent to pathologist for examination under a microscope and for the diagnosis to be made, after which the necessary treatment can begin.