What are the risks of renal biopsy?
Complications of renal biopsy are rare. The most important is bleeding, and you are monitoried after the biopsy to detect this. Changes in pulse rate, blood pressure and blood in the first urine after the biopsy may be signs of bleeding. If there are signs of much bleeding you may need to go back to the radiology department for an ultrasound scan to see if there is a clot outside the kidney. The majority of bleeding is minor and needs no special treatment. If there is an unexpected amount of bleeding, you may need a blood transfusion, and in very rare cases a further special X-ray called an angiogram is done to find the bleeding point, and sometimes to stop the bleeding. Very rarely an operation to remove the kidney may be required. Visible blood can appear in the urine in 3-5% of cases. Requiring a blood transfusion or angiogram is very rare, less than 1% of biopsies.
