A patient is scheduled for a renal biopsy. What are the risks that you would counsel them about?
At our institution, the following are the risk estimates:
- The incidence of gross hematuria is approximately 5-10%
- The incidence of significantly bleeding enough to delay discharge is approximately 1:100. This refers to persistent hematuria, or perinephric hematoma, which usually settles with conservative management
- A transfusion is occasionally necessary
- Serious bleeding complications sufficient to warrant interventions to stop bleeding are of the order of 1:1000
- Kidney biopsy can be life threatening in 1:5000-1:10000
