Treatment of massive hemorrhage after renal biopsy with percutaneous arterial obliteration.

Severe perirenal hemorrhage is a major, although rare, postbiopsy complication. We report a case of a 48-year-old man with a postbiopsy massive bleeding from a ramification of the renal artery supplying the lower pole of the left kidney. Treatment consisted of complete obliteration of the bleeding vessel by helding a percutaneous catether in wedge position during a renal arteriographyc study. Our case shows that percutaneous arterial obliteration is a successful procedure in treating postbiopsy renal hemorrhage, representing an effective alternative to surgical therapy.