Major complications after ultrasound-guided liver biopsy: An annual audit of a Chinese tertiary-care teaching hospital

Table 1 Demographic, clinical, procedural and pathological characteristics of patients in the major complication and no major complication groups

Variables	Major complication, n = 10, %	No major complication, n = 1847, %	P value
Sex
Male	8, 80.0	1100, 59.6	0.189
Female	2, 20.0	747, 40.4
Age, median (Q1, Q3)	65.0 (54.5, 76.3)	58.0 (47.0, 67.0)	0.156
Comorbidity
Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases	2, 20.0	238, 12.9	0.504
Extensive ascites	0, 0	35, 1.9	0.660
Obstructed jaundice	3, 30.0	137, 7.4	0.007
Laboratory test
Platelet count < 50 × 109/L	0, 0	15, 0.8	0.922
Prebiopsy hemoglobin level, median (Q1, Q3)	112.5 (76.5, 126.3)	125.0 (112, 139)	0.027
Fibrinogen < 2 g/L	5, 50.0	228, 12.3	< 0.001
PT prolonged 5 s	1, 10.0	63, 3.4	0.255
Objectives of PLB
Focal liver lesions	8, 80.0	1346, 72.9	0.336
Diffuse liver disease	2, 20.0	501, 27.1
Prebiopsy application of anticoagulants/antiplatelet medication/Y	2, 20.0	79, 4.5	0.02
Postbiopsy application of hemostatic medication/Y	9, 90.0	462, 26.6	< 0.001
Operator/10-yr experience	6, 60.0	665, 36.0	0.115
Biopsy technique
Bare introduction Tru-cut (18G)	6, 60.0	922, 49.9	0.525
Coaxial introduction Tru-cut (18G)	4, 40.0	925, 50.1
Location of targets
Right	6, 75.0	1046, 73.0	0.659
Left	1, 12.5	301, 21.0
Hilar	1, 12.5	86, 6.0
The maximum diameter of targets, median (Q1, Q3)	2.8 (1.7, 6.3)	3.3 (2.1, 5.9)	0.514
Multilesion/Y	4, 44.0	848. 60.2	0.336
Post-biopsy hemoglobin level, median (Q1, Q3)	81.0 (65.3, 107.8)	114.7 (109.0, 126.0)	0.001
Repeat biopsy/Y	0, 0	30, 1.6	0.685
Number of specimens, median (Q1, Q3)	2 (2.0, 2.3)	2 (2.0, 2.0)	0.553
Histological analysis
HCC	0, 0	278, 15.1	0.094
ICC	3, 30.0	222, 12.0
Secondary hepatic tumor	2, 20.0	516, 27.9
Liver abscess	1, 10.0	90, 4.9
Chronic liver disease	0, 0	393, 21.3
Others	4, 40.0	348, 18.8

HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma; ICC: Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma; PLB: Percutaneous liver biopsy; PT: Prothrombin time; Q: Quartile; Y: Yes.

Table 2 Risk factors related to increased risk of major complications and all-cause 30-d mortality

	β	OR (95%CI)	P value
Risk factors for major complication
Obstructed jaundice	1.902	6.698 (1.133-39.596)	0.036
Fibrinogen < 2 g/L	2.846	17.226 (2.647-112.102)	0.003
Prebiopsy application of anticoagulants/antiplatelet medications	3.181	24.078 (1.678-345.495)	0.019
Postbiopsy hemoglobin level	-0.037	0.963 (0.942-0.985)	0.001
Age	0.091	1.096 (1.012-1.187)	0.025
Risk factors for all-cause 30-d mortality
Prebiopsy hemoglobin	-0.038	0.963 (0.928-0.999)	0.042
Postbiopsy hemoglobin	-0.043	0.958 (0.930-0.987)	0.005

CI: Confidence interval; OR: Odds ratio.