liver biopsy : Hi I will be having a liver biopsy... - Liver4Life

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liver biopsy

kaya12 profile image
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Hi I will be having a liver biopsy done and also a endoscopy where they will inject the veins in my liver has anyone had this treatmnet im worried its really gonna hurt any advice appreciated

Thanks

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kaya12
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AyrshireK profile image
AyrshireK

I am a bit lost over your description of the endoscopy procedure and the injecting of veins in the liver and think you've possibly misinterpreted doctors explanation.

An endoscopy is generally a diagnostic test involving sending a camera down your oesophagus to check out the oesophagus, stomach lining and duodenum to check for any signs of anything untoward. In liver disease this might be things like portal hypertension - high blood pressure in the portal vein which can lead to a back flow of blood into smaller blood vessels which can then swell or rupture in either the stomach or the oesophagus and these get called VARICES. When varices are present these might need to be treated - often this is by means of banding which involves sending a second tool down the throat to tie off these blood vessels to prevent them from bursting or indeed there is a method whereby they inject a drug into the blood vessels to cause them to constrict and cut off their chance of bleeding. These veins arn't in the liver but further up in the digestive tract.

My husband has had 42 varices treated by means of banding, the endoscopy isn't really a pleasant procedure but absolutely vital. You will have the option of a throat spray and/or sedation - the best option is to go for both and that way you should have no real awareness of the procedure or memory of it afterwards. For about a week after banding my hubby would have pain when eating and drinking and required a soft and sloppy diet as anything passing the banding site in the oesophagus would cause pain. He also had a very active gag reflex so found the procedure rather difficult until he learned the trick of holding his breath as the throat spray was applied - after that he tolerated his 5 weekly endoscopies no trouble.

The liver biopsy should be relatively pain free, a local anaesthetic is used to numb your side and the needle is passed through your side into the liver - there might be a feeling of a bit of nipping and a bit of pulling as samples are drawn but in general it is pain free. However, you will have to lie still for some hours afterwards which some people find rather tedious - take reading or listening material for a long lie down. The reason for the lie down is to prevent internal bleeding and you will be closely monitored. My hubby has had a biopsy through the usual side route plus a transjugular one where the incision is made at your neck and the biopsy tool sent down to your liver via blood vessels - it was totally pain free too and hubby said he only had a mild 'tweak' when the sample was being drawn and tool taken out.

Both procedures are absolutely vital so try not to work yourself up over them, the more anxious you are the worse they are - especially the endoscopy. If you can be relaxed the sedation works better and you'll have a much more straight forward time.

Wishing you the very best of luck, Katie

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