Liver Abscess as a Late Complication of Percutaneous Liver Biopsy

• Percutaneous liver biopsy is a widely used diagnostic procedure. Severe complications accompanying its performance with Menghini's needle are rare. In one patient, a liver abscess developed one month following a diagnostic biopsy. To our knowledge, this unusual complication has not been mentioned in large series reviewing liver biopsy complications.

(Arch Surg 115:1233-1234, 1980)