What is a liver biopsy and should I have one?

Your doctor may recommend that you have a liver biopsy to determine how badly your liver is damaged. Knowing the amount of liver damage will help you and your doctor to decide if and when to start treatment with medicine. A liver biopsy is a procedure where the doctor uses a needle to remove a small "plug" of liver tissue so that it can be examined in the laboratory for the presence of permanent liver damage or cancer. People who have had liver biopsies report varying degrees of discomfort with the procedure. You will be given a sedative to help you relax and a local painkiller. Occasionally there will be a small-to-moderate amount of pain afterwards. If you find that you are uncomfortable, your doctor will generally prescribe a light painkiller immediately after the biopsy. The pain may occur at a different place that the biopsy site, possibly in the pit of your stomach or in the right shoulder. The liver itself has no pain-sensing nerve fibers, but a small amount of blood in the ...  more