Outpatient liver biopsy: how safe is it?

Patients who undergo a percutaneous liver biopsy as outpatients should be monitored closely for the development of complications. A percutaneous liver biopsy is a procedure used to diagnosis patients with suspected liver disease or to plan their treatment. This procedure was first used in the late 1800s by a German physician. It did not gain widespread acceptance until after the development of a safer technique in 1957. Physicians first started performing the percutaneous liver biopsy on an outpatient basis in 1966. Patients who undergo a liver biopsy as outpatients are closely monitored for the first six hours following the procedure. A research study found that 3% of patients who underwent a liver biopsy as outpatients developed complications. The complication rate among outpatients may vary depending on the technique used to do the biopsy. Outpatients in more advanced stages of liver disease may have a higher risk of complications than other patients.