Improving safety of kidney biopsies at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital

A study at Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital (RBWH) is aiming to reduce the risk of bleeding during kidney biopsy procedures and improve patient outcomes.

Dr Ng’s study is called RECANT — ‘Reduce Complications Associated with Nephrological Tests’

Every year, hundreds of Australians require a kidney biopsy to test for medical conditions that may impair kidney function. A study at Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital (RBWH) aims to reduce the risk of bleeding during the procedure and improve patient outcomes.

Kidney biopsies carry risks from minor to severe bleeding, which can result in one in 1,000 patients needing their kidney removed.

RBWH kidney specialist Dr Monica Ng is working to improve the safety of kidney biopsies, through a Queensland Health Clinical Research Fellowship.

Dr Ng’s a study is called RECANT — ‘Reduce Complications Associated with Nephrological Tests’.

“The goal is to develop a new non-invasive test that we can use to better identify people who are more likely to have complications after a kidney biopsy,” Dr Ng said.

Factors which can contribute to higher risk include kidney fibrosis or kidney scarring. Currently, there is no reliable, non-invasive test to identify the amount of scarring or irreversible damage is present in a kidney before a biopsy. The RECANT study involves developing a test that looks at nanoparticles in the urine called extracellular vesicles.

“We know that different disease states in the kidney are associated with different types of these extracellular vesicles,” Dr Ng said.

“Ultimately, the goal of this work is to reduce the number of people who get bleeding complications after a kidney biopsy.”