The efficacy of liver biopsy under ultrasonographic guidance on an outpatient basis

Objective: To evaluate the safety and compliance of outpatient echo-guided liver biopsy (ELB) when compared to those performed on inpatients (IP). Methods: From June 1996 to November 2000, we carried out 418 ELB on patients with diffuse liver disease: 246 inpatients (IP ELB) and 172 in a Day Hospital setting (DH ELB). The same inclusion and exclusion criteria were followed for both groups of patients, performing the same echo-guided intercostal liver biopsy with free-hand technique and post biopsy assessment with colordoppler examination; post biopsy follow-up consisted of 6-h bed rest and blood pressure and heart rate monitoring up to discharge. DH patients were discharged 8 h after biopsy, if they did not live further than a 30-min trip from the hospital. In both groups, the following data was evaluated: death rate, sample adequacy, number of passages, major and minor complications, pain score. Results: The data analysed in our series show that ELB DH presents no fundamental differences in morbidity and mortality when compared to ELB IP.