Safety of Percutaneous Muscle Biopsy: An Update Based on Over 2400 Procedures

TL;DR

Percutaneous muscle biopsy is a safe procedure with few and mostly minor side effects, even when repeated or used in people with chronic diseases.

Contribution

The study provides updated safety data from over 2400 muscle biopsies, including insights on repeated procedures and health status.

Findings

80.6% of procedures had no adverse events, with erythema, ecchymosis, and pain being the most common.

Serious complications like vasovagal syncope occurred in ≤0.04% of cases.

Repeated biopsies increased minor adverse events, especially in healthy volunteers.

Abstract

This study assessed the safety of percutaneous muscle biopsy by analyzing over 2400 procedures performed between 2007 and 2025 in healthy individuals and patients with chronic diseases. We retrospectively reviewed biopsy‐related adverse events among 1246 participants (471 healthy adults and 775 patients) to investigate whether health status or repeated sampling at the same site influenced complication rates. A total of 2435 biopsies were performed, primarily on the vastus lateralis muscle (97%). Overall, 80.6% of the procedures had no adverse events. The most common adverse events were erythema (6.6%), ecchymosis (4.1%), and pain (3.9%). Serious complications, including loss of consciousness (vasovagal syncope), were extremely rare (≤ 0.04%). Most adverse events occurred in isolation (74.9%) and did not preclude participation in subsequent research activities. Repeated biopsies modestly increased the risk of minor adverse events, particularly bleeding, erythema, and bruising. Notably, these were more frequently reported among healthy volunteers than among patients. In conclusion, percutaneous muscle biopsy is a safe and well‐tolerated procedure, even when performed repeatedly or in individuals with chronic diseases. The minor adverse events were infrequent, transient, and clinically manageable. These findings support the continued use of this technique in both research and clinical settings.

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