Short-duration post CT-guided thoracic biopsy monitoring- clinical experience with 440 patients

With several studies recording a higher percentage of complications in the first hour of post-biopsy, this study sought to evaluate the safety in the reduction in post-biopsy patient monitoring time after computed tomography (CT)-guided thoracic biopsies, providing a basis for further research.

This was a retrospective study involving patients who were referred to our centre for CT-guided thoracic biopsies from January 2010 to December 2017. Patients who presented with no complications immediately after the post-biopsy CT scan were given 30 min of post-biopsy care after which they were discharged, and given a hot line to call in case of any complication. There was also a follow-up call by a nurse after 24 h to inquire about any complication and general condition of the patients.

A total of 440 core needle thoracic biopsies were performed within the period of the study. The most common thoracic region indicated for biopsy was mediastinal (n = 240, 54.5%), followed by lung (n = 185, 42.0%). Complications were recorded at a rate of 6.4% (n = 28), with 4.1% (n = 18) been pneumothorax and pulmonary haemorrhage and haemoptysis accounting for 2.3% (n = 10). No relevant complications were recorded in patients who presented with no complications immediately after the post-biopsy CT scan (n = 374, 85%).

Findings from this initial study have shown that thirty minutes of post-biopsy care could be sufficient for patients present with no complications immediately after a post-procedural scan in CT-guided thoracic biopsies; providing a basis for similar algorithms to be explored in a randomised control study to substantiate the observation.