Percutaneous pediatric renal biopsy: use of the biopsy gun.

A recently developed biopsy gun was used in the ultrasound (US)-guided biopsy of native kidneys in seven children. The biopsy gun employs a needle (18 gauge) smaller than that usually used for renal biopsies. In all seven cases it provided a core biopsy specimen that contained enough glomeruli to make a definitive histologic diagnosis of renal parenchymal disease. Use of the biopsy gun eliminated the more complicated movements needed to obtain samples with the conventional manual biopsy techniques. No major complications occurred, and in only one case a minor complication, trace hematuria determined by means of dipstick analysis, was found. The time required to obtain the tissue samples was decreased with use of this technique. Because of the advantages of the biopsy gun, the authors now use it exclusively in percutaneous US-guided biopsy of native pediatric kidneys and recommended that this method be considered by other institutions performing similar biopsies.