Electrocautery in Percutaneous Liver Biopsy

HEMORRHAGE and bile peritonitis are the most frequent complications and chief causes of death from percutaneous needle biopsy of the liver.¹ Impaired coagulation and obstructive jaundice enhance the danger of severe bleeding. In an attempt to avoid liver biopsy complications in patients with coagulation defects and/or obstructive jaundice, an electrocautery attachment to a liver-biopsy needle has been designed. A quantitative and qualitative statistical analysis of the bleeding times at the electrocautery and control biopsy sites in normal dogs, dogs treated with anticoagulants and metaraminol bitartrate, and dogs with common-bile-duct ligation, demonstrated that the electrocautery modification significantly reduced bleeding.

Materials and Methods  A standard Silverman liver-biopsy needle with a thin Teflon sheath surrounding all but the distal I cm of the cannula was used. A conducting terminal soldered to the needle handle was connected to the electrocautery ( Bovie Model CSV) by a wire. Coagulation current with a power control setting