Safety of Day Case Percutaneous Liver Biopsies at a Tertiary Hospital in Nigeria

Background: Percutaneous liver biopsy (PLB) is a procedure through which liver tissue is obtained for making the diagnosis of liver diseases. Most PLBs are performed as a day case procedure, and complications can occur. Objective: This study assessed the safety of PLBs as a day case procedure. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study of participants aged 18 years and above who had a day case PLB from January 2021 to June 2024. Standard precautions were observed, and eligible participants after the procedure were observed for 4–6 h. Post-biopsy complications were looked for and their time duration was recorded. Data obtained were collated and entered into SPSS version 20 and analysed using simple and inferential statistics. A P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: There were 125 participants comprising 71 (56.8%) females and 54 (43.2%) males, with an age range of 18–70 years, with a mean ± standard deviation (SD) of 44.4 (13.0) years. A total of 161 complications amongst 101 (80.8%) participants occurred, with some participants having two or more complications. The most common were pain at the shoulder tip, 41 (32.8%) and pain at the biopsy site, 93 (74.5%), with mean ± (SD) time duration of 58.9 (47.3) and 96.6 (71.7) min, respectively. Participants with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease, those aged > 40 years and participants with echogenic liver on ultrasound had more post-biopsy complications than others, P < 0.05. There was no death or post-biopsy admission. Conclusions: Day case PLB is safe, and the most common complications are pain at the shoulder tip and biopsy site.