Is a two-hour monitoring period sufficient and safe for patients undergoing ultrasound-guided percutaneous liver mass biopsy?: A prospective and multicenter experience.

Purpose: To investigate whether patients undergoing percutaneous liver mass biopsy (PLMB) can be safely discharged following a two-hour monitoring period.

Methods: A multi-center prospective analysis was conducted for 375 patients (196 males and 179 females), mean age 63 ± 12.45 years (range 37-89) who underwent PLMB between August 2023 and March 2024. Patients were monitored for 24 h, and complications were classified as minor or major. The timing of complications was categorized into three groups: within the first two hours, between the 2nd and 24th hours, and within 1 week after 24 hours.

Results: Minor complications occurred in 18.93% (71/375) and major complications in 2.13% (8/375). Most minor complications (80.2%, 57/71) appeared within the first two hours, 12.7% (9/71) between 2 and 24 h, and 7.1% (5/71) after 24 h. All major complications (62.5%, 5/8) except late-onset cases, occurred within the first two hours. No major complications occurred between 2 and 24 h. Late-onset major complications occurred in 37.5% (3/8) after 24 h.

Conclusion: The two-hour monitoring period did not adversely impact patient management regarding minor complications and is safe for identifying all major complications except for late-onset ones. Extending the post-biopsy recovery period does not significantly improve patient care.