[Safety and yield of percutaneous renal biopsy using an automatic 16G needle in native kidneys]

US-guided percutaneous renal biopsy is the procedure of choice for obtaining histological specimens from the renal parenchyma. The superiority of using automatic needles under US guidance is well established in the literature. However, little information is available about the use of 16G needles, so we reviewed our experience in this technique. We report the diagnostic yield and rate of complications for US-guided percutaneous renal biopsy using automatic 16G needles.

We reviewed 243 consecutive renal biopsies obtained from native kidneys using automatic 16G needles under US guidance. We calculated the diagnostic yield using the number of biopsies with a complete histological report and the rate of major and minor complications. We used Fisher's exact test to evaluate the correlation between the occurrence of major complications, patient age, renal function, and diastolic blood pressure.

Biopsies yielded enough material to establish the diagnosis in 228 of 243 cases (93.83%). Complications were detected in 33 of 243 biopsies (13.5%); of these, 9 (3.7%) were major and 24 (9.8%) were minor. Seven patients in whom major complications occurred were successfully treated with renal arteriography and superselective embolization. We found no cases of nephrectomy or death associated to biopsy. Major complications were associated to elevated diastolic blood pressure.

The efficacy and safety of percutaneous renal biopsy using an automatic 16G needle make it a good alternative to obtain histological specimens of the kidney.