Renal biopsies play a central role in establishing clinical renal diagnoses.
During a 12 year period this group performed 394 biopsies with either Trucut needles or a 14 gauge biopsy gun needle. The timing of the complications was most interesting. There were only 3 minor complications beyond 12 hours. The authors conclude that observation of patients for 12 hours is the minimum acceptable, with a 24 hour post biopsy observation period being optimal. In fact, many insurance companies consider renal biopsy as an outpatient procedure.