Bladder obstruction--a rare complication after percutaneous renal biopsy.

In the treatment of diffuse renal disease exact histological diagnosis is of great importance. Biopsy, therefore, is an integrated component of patient management. The most common complication following percutaneous renal biopsy (PRB) is bleeding. Gross hematuria can be easily detected; an uncommon complication after PRB, however, is bleeding into the urinary system, with obstruction of the bladder by blood clots. By means of ultrasonic control obstruction of the bladder can easily be diagnosed in a non-invasive way. As far as we know, no cases where bladder obstruction due to blood clots after PRB were diagnosed by ultrasonography have been documented so far.