Why do I need a bone marrow aspiration? Bone marrow aspiration is an essential operation for the diagnosis of different types of pediatric blood disorders. Bone marrow aspiration can help us to differentially diagnose many blood disorders such as leukemia, aplastic anemia, myelodysplastic syndrome, immune thrombocytopenia, and different types of anemia. In addition, for children with unexplained prolonged fever or swollen lymph nodes, a bone marrow aspiration is an important clue to finding the cause of the disease. Is bone marrow aspiration dangerous? Bone marrow aspiration is a routine procedure performed by pediatricians, who follow strict aseptic principles and standardized procedures, and is generally not dangerous. Most of the puncture procedures are painless, but the child may experience a transient stabbing pain when the bone marrow is aspirated. Some rare complications that may occur are: 1. local bleeding and hematoma at the puncture site; 2. local infection or sepsis: redness, swelling, heat and pain at the local puncture site, or systemic infection such as fever and chills; 3. allergy to local anesthetics and toxic reactions to drugs; 4. failure of the puncture operation, which may then require re-puncture. Will the child not grow taller after bone marrow puncture? Bone marrow puncture does not have any effect on the child’s bone marrow hematopoiesis, growth and development. At which site is the bone marrow puncture performed? There are three sites for pediatric bone marrow puncture: the sternum, the ilium (posterior or anterior iliac), and the tibia (anterior tibial), which are chosen by the doctor based on the age of the child and the suspected disease. The sternum is the most commonly chosen site, but when aplastic anemia is suspected, the iliac bone is usually chosen for the puncture; in some older adolescent children with a harder sternum, the iliac bone is also often chosen for the puncture; in younger infants, the tibia may be chosen for the puncture. What are the precautions before and after bone marrow puncture? 1. No fasting is required before bone marrow puncture, and you can eat normally. 2.After wrapping the needle eye of bone marrow puncture, it is necessary to apply slight pressure for several minutes. 3. Do not immerse the bone marrow puncture site in water for 1-2 days. Why is it necessary to repeatedly perform bone marrow aspiration during the treatment of children with leukemia? Bone marrow aspiration not only plays a pivotal role in diagnosing leukemia, it also plays an important role in evaluating the effectiveness of leukemia treatment, assessing prognosis and guiding follow-up treatment. At different stages of treatment, bone marrow aspiration allows monitoring for micro residual disease (MRD): if MRD remains negative, it is an important sign of effective treatment; if MRD remains positive, there may be leukemia cells resistant to chemotherapy drugs; if MRD changes from negative to positive, a high degree of vigilance is required for a tendency of leukemia relapse.