Blood transfusion requirements after liver biopsy.

It is common practice to type and screen the blood before performing a percutaneous liver biopsy. Many practitioners think that this is unnecessary but do not have a reason to change their practice. The requirements for transfusion after biopsy were determined in a consecutive sample of cases at a tertiary care teaching hospital with the use of health record review and the anecdotal recall of gastroenterologists and others performing biopsies. One of 266 liver biopsies required a transfusion after biopsy over a two-year period. One other case of hemorrhage with a fatal outcome was recalled by several individuals. It is concluded that the incidence of significant hemorrhage after liver biopsy is low, and that it may not be necessary to type and screen the blood of low risk patients before biopsy.