Your child will go back to the hospital ward to rest in bed. Your kidney team will ask your child to stay lying down in bed for several hours. This helps avoid bleeding from their kidney.
Your child can read, draw, watch television or play with toys, as long as they stay resting.
Your doctor will let you and your child know what they can eat and drink.
A team of healthcare professionals will monitor your child’s:
- heart rate
- breathing
- blood pressure
- biopsy site to see that it is not bleeding
- urine to check for any blood
Going home after a kidney biopsy
If your child is well after the biopsy and has no or little blood in their urine, they can usually go home about 6 hours after the procedure.
If the biopsy took place late in the afternoon, or you live far from the hospital, your child may need to stay overnight and go home the following morning.
Recovering at home after a kidney biopsy
Blood in the urine
Some children will continue to have a little blood in their urine after they get home. The urine may be dark brown (like a cola drink) or red (like blackcurrant squash). This should stop after a day.
If your child continues to have visible blood in their urine after 24 hours, contact the hospital.
Dressing
Keep the dressing dry and in place for 2-3 days after the biopsy. This will help it to heal. The scar from the needle is very small.
Other medicines
Check with your doctor or pharmacist before giving your child any other medicines, for a few weeks after the biopsy. This includes herbal and complementary medicines, and medicines that you can get over the counter.
School and nursery, and sport
Your hospital staff will give you more information about when your child can go back to school or nursery. This is usually after 2 or 3 days.
Your child will need to avoid running around or riding a bike for 1 or 2 weeks and avoid contact or impact sports for up to 4 weeks. These include rugby, football, jumping on a trampoline or horse riding.
Call the ward if:
- your child complains that the biopsy site is very painful – for example, if normal pain relief is not helping and your child is unable to play, get up or walk in the days after they go home
- you can see blood, or blood clots, in your child’s urine
- there is any oozing or bleeding from the biopsy site, or if it becomes red
- your child cannot wee
- your child gets a fever (temperature above 38°C)
- your child feels faint or dizzy.
Examination and results
It can take several weeks to get the full biopsy results because of the different ways in which the kidney samples are examined. The amount of time depends on your hospital.
The results will give your doctor more information to help them give a diagnosis or find out the best treatment for your child. Your doctor will let you know about a follow-up visit to talk about the biopsy results and what they mean.
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