Table 1. Major complications associated with pleural biopsy techniques.

Complication	Closed pleural biopsy (%)	Medical thoracoscopy (%)
Bleeding	2.2 (1.1–2.5)	1.1 (0–8.0)
Infection	*	3.6 (0–28.0)
Persistent air leak	0.2 (0–0.6)	5.8 (0–16.0)
Hypotension	1.2 (0–6.5)	2.0 (0–4.8)
Subcutaneous emphysema	0.2 (0–0.7)	6.8 (0–20.0)
Pain	2.3 (0–4.8)	3.5 (0–6.8)

*, procedure-related infections were not reported in all included trials of CPB, so a pooled mean was not calculated. Pooled means (ranges) of reported complications across trials of CPB and medical thoracoscopy (6,8,9,17-23). CPB, closed pleural biopsy.