A lung needle biopsy can cause a collapsed lung (pneumothorax) in about one-third of people. Air can leak from: The lung through the puncture after the needle is removed.
Sometimes, a collapsed lung (pneumothorax) occurs after this test. A chest x-ray will be done to check for this. The risk is higher if you have certain lung diseases such as emphysema. Usually, a collapsed lung after a biopsy does not need treatment.
Pneumothorax is the most common complication of needle aspiration or biopsy of the lung, which is reported to occur in 17–26.6% of patients [1–4]. The chest tube insertion rate is much lower, ranging from 1% to 14.2% of patients [1–4]. A patient-related risk factor for pneumothorax is the presence of COPD.
Pooled overall complication rates for core biopsy and FNA were 38.8 % (95 % CI: 34.3–43.5 %) and 24.0 % (95 % CI: 18.2–30.8 %), respectively. Major complication rates were 5.7 % (95 % CI: 4.4–7.4 %) and 4.4 % (95 % CI: 2.7–7.0 %), respectively.
Pneumothorax is the most common complication of transthoracic lung biopsy (4). A patient with stable pneumothorax may be treated conservatively without chest tube insertion. If pneumothorax is large (greater than 30% of hemithorax), is rapidly expanding, or is causing symptoms, chest tube insertion is warranted.
If your pneumothorax is caused by an underlying lung condition or chest trauma, you are more likely to need treatment. If the pneumothorax is small, the leak usually heals itself and the trapped air is gradually absorbed by your body. This normally takes 1-2 weeks.
Pneumothorax is the most common complication after lung biopsy. The rate of pneumothorax varies widely across different studies. The latest meta-analysis4 investigated risk factors and pneumothorax rates after percutaneous lung biopsy in 23,104 patients from 36 articles.
Conclusions: In-hospital mortality after elective surgical lung biopsy for interstitial lung disease is just under 2% but significantly higher for nonelective procedures. Identified risk factors for death should be taken into account when counseling patients on whether to pursue a histologic diagnosis.
Other rare but serious complications of surgical lung biopsies may include severe bleeding, wound infection, and blood clots. Call your doctor if you have any signs of infection or complications, which include: Fever over 100.4 F. Redness, swelling, or blood or fluid leaking from the wound.
You may need to take it easy at home for a day or two after the procedure. For 1 week, try to avoid heavy lifting and strenuous activities. These activities could cause bleeding from the biopsy site. It can take several days to get the results of the biopsy.
A needle or transbronchial lung biopsy is performed under light sedation and/or local anesthesia. Some possible complications of these procedures may include, but are not limited to, the following: Pneumothorax is when air becomes trapped in the pleural space causing the lung to collapse. Bleeding in the lung.
Complications from a biopsy
Excessive bleeding (haemorrhage) Infection. Puncture damage to nearby tissue or organs. Skin numbness around the biopsy site.
A collapsed lung is rare, but does occur for thousands of people each year. Often the condition resolves on its own after a few days to a few weeks. But some cases need medical care offered in a hospital. Trust us to provide the specialized pulmonary care you need.
General anesthesia is a common cause of atelectasis. It changes your regular pattern of breathing and affects the exchange of lung gases, which can cause the air sacs (alveoli) to deflate. Nearly everyone who has major surgery develops some amount of atelectasis.
Often, someone who has a collapsed lung gets another within 1 or 2 years. Smoking can also make the condition more likely. And some types of pneumothoraces run in families.
In some cases, the needle will cause a small air leak in the lung. Misdiagnosis can also occur if the tissue is not taken from the correct part of the airways. The results of the biopsy can also be misdiagnosed by pathologists.
You may go back to your normal activities the day after your procedure. If you plan to travel by plane and you had no air leak around your lungs, it's safe for you to fly 2 days after your biopsy. If your chest x-ray shows an air leak, you may need to delay flying until your healthcare provider tells you it's safe.
When a bronchoscopy is inconclusive, doctors and patients often err on the side of caution, opting for a lung biopsy—either via CT-guided needle biopsy or surgery. About one-third of lung biopsies come back negative.
While a CT scan-guided lung biopsy is less invasive than other procedures used to obtain tissue from the lung nodule, it is not without some risk. Very few patients may experience an air leak due to the needle causing a hole in the lung. This usually heals on its own and will not require further procedures.
A lung needle biopsy is done when there is an abnormal condition near the surface of the lung, in the lung itself, or on the chest wall. Most often, it is done to check for cancer. The biopsy is usually done after abnormalities appear on a chest x-ray or CT scan.
Iatrogenic pneumothorax is a known and feared complication of flexible bronchoscopy (Figure 1), with a reported incidence rate ranging from 0.16% when bronchoscopy alone is performed and up to 20-30% after placement of endobronchial valves for lung volume reduction.
But there is a fairly common complication that I encountered shortly after the needle was removed. It is called a "pneumothorax" and it is essentially the creation of an air bubble outside of the lung that causes the lung to collapse.
Pneumothorax and air leak are common after partial lung resection.