Diagnostic yield and postoperative management of patients submitted to brain biopsy in a university hospital

To assess the diagnostic yield and the incidence of perioperative complications in patients undergoing an open or closed cerebral biopsy and to determine the length of intensive care monitoring, for early diagnosis and fast management of perioperative complications. This was a retrospective analysis of all the patients that underwent brain biopsy between January 2006 and July 2012. We recorded demographic data, comorbidities, modality of biopsy, intraoperative clinical data, histological results, computed tomography scanning findings and occurrence, and type of perioperative complications and moment of appearance. Seventy-six brain biopsies in 75 consecutive patients (51 closed and 25 open) were analysed. Diagnostic yield was 98% for closed biopsies and 96% for open biopsies. Mortality related to the procedures was 3.9 and 4%, respectively. The incidence of major complications was 3.9% for closed biopsies and 8% for open biopsies; half of these appeared within the first 24 postoperative hours, during patient stay in the Intensive Care Unit. Age was the only risk factor for complications (P=.04) in our study. No differences in morbimortality were found between the studied groups. Diagnostic yield was very high in our series. Because the importance of early diagnosis of complications for preventing long-term sequelae, we recommend overnight hospital stay for observation after open or closed brain biopsy.