SummaryThe technic for manually guiding a percutaneously inserted biopsy needle into hepatic nodules at the time of operation is described. The usefulness of this simple procedure is illustrated by six patients with carcinomas of the colon or rectum who had hepatic nodules that felt like metastatic cancer. Microscopic examination of biopsy specimens showed the hepatic lesions of two of these patients to be benign. A seventh patient had diffuse enlargement of the liver which was shown to be due to metastatic cancer, and radical surgery was avoided.