Evaluation of complications due to percutaneous renal biopsy: a clinical and angiographic study.

Complications due to 173 percutaneous biopsies in 158 patients were evaluated. In 57 of the patients the biopsies were guided by renal angiography, and in this group hematomas were found in 23% of the biopsies, arteriovenous fistulae in 8%, and renal infarction in 6%. No predisposing factors leading to complications were found. A transient increase in serum creatinine concentration was recorded with a maximal value about the fourth to sixth day after the biopsy. Thirteen percent of the biopsies controlled by angiography resulted in permanent kidney lesions, but none of them seemed to be of clinical importance.