Delayed bleeding after liver biopsy: a dreaded complication

W T Yeo1, L K Tan, Y Y Dan

  • 1Department of Medicine, National University Hospital, 5 Lower Kent Ridge Road, Singapore 119074.

Singapore Medical Journal
|January 22, 2008
PubMed

We present an unusual case of percutaneous liver biopsy complicated by delayed haemothorax in a 55-year-old Chinese man with hepatitis C cirrhosis and severe haemophilia A. The patient presented ten days after the initial liver biopsy, and was managed with prompt investigations for confirming the diagnosis, infusion of factor VIII and fresh frozen plasma, and early referral to the surgeon for consideration of surgical repair. The importance of early detection and aggressive therapy is emphasised.