Clin Nephrol
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Comparative Study
Percutaneous renal biopsy of ventilated intensive care unit patients.
The etiology of acute renal failure in ventilated intensive care unit patients can be determined non-invasively in more than 80% of cases. When a pulmonary renal syndrome is suspected however it is important to obtain histological confirmation of the diagnosis prior to initiating therapy. Most text books and review articles have advocated the use of open surgical biopsy in this situation. ⋯ We compare the complication rate with that achieved using open surgical biopsy during the same time period. The complication rate using a percutaneous technique was similar to open renal biopsy. We believe that the previously held recommendation that percutaneous renal biopsy should not be performed on ventilated patients should be re-examined.