Direct Hospital Costs of Ambulatory versus Inpatient Needle-Localized Breast Biopsy: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Ambulatory NLB was associated with lower direct hospital costs than inpatient care in this single-center cohort. Admission status and operative time were associated with higher expenditure.

These findings reflect real-world practice in selected patients; however, the observational design, marked group imbalance, and absence of safety events limit causal inference and preclude firm conclusions regarding comparative safety.