Skin Biopsy

Biopsy, Skin

How To Prepare

Before a skin biopsy, tell your doctor if you:

• Are taking any medications, particularly anti-inflammatory medicines such as prednisone. Anti-inflammatory medicines may change the way your biopsy looks under the microscope.
• Are allergic to any medicines.
• Have had any bleeding problems or are taking blood-thinning medicines, such as aspirin or warfarin (Coumadin).
• Are or might be pregnant.

No special preparation is needed before having this test.

You may be asked to sign a consent form. Talk to your health professional about any concerns you have regarding the need for the test, its risk, how it will be done, or what the results will indicate. To help you understand the importance of this test, fill out the medical test information form(What is a PDF document?).

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Author:	Maria G. Essig, MS, ELS	Last Updated: April 26, 2007
Medical Review:	Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine Alexander H. Murray, MD, FRCPC - Dermatology
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