Safety of radiofrequency ablation guided by ultrasonography in hepatic malignant tumors

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the safety of percutaneous radiofrequency ablation （RFA） in hepatic malignant tumors under the guidance of ultrasonography.Methods The clinical data and the follow- up radiographic images of the patients with hepatic malignant tumors treated by percutaneous RFA between January 2012 and February 2014 were retrospectively reviewed, and the major or minor complications of RFA were both calculated. Results 1 568 lesions were ablated by i 080 percutaneous RFA procedures in 900 patients with hepatic malignant tumors under the guidance of the sonography.The average size of the tumors was （2.6 ± 1.2）cm. The total complications rate of 1 080 RFA procedures was 5.93% （64/1 080）, which including intra-abdominal bleeding 2.78% （30/1 080）,hepatic abscess 0.74% （8/1 080）, biliary tract damage 0.64% （7/1 080）, vascular damage 0.56% （6/1 080）, tract seeding 0.46% （5/1 080）, pleural hemorrhage 0.37 % （4/1 080）, gastrointestinal damage 0.18 % （ 2/1 080 ）, hepatic encephalopathy 0.09 % （ 1 / 1 080）,and death 0.09%（1/1 080）.While major complications was 1.94%（21/1 080） vs minor 3.98%（43/ 1 080）.Sixty three patients with complications recovered after treatments including blood transfusion, ablation, surgery, interventional drainage procedure and liver transplantation, only one patient died for irreversible liver failure.Conclusions RFA for hepatic malignant tumors under the guidance of sonography is a safe method with lower complications rate, however, the potential major complications and the indications of RFA liver malignant tumors should be carefully focused on. Key words: Ultrasonography ; Liver neoplasms; Radiofrequency ablation; Complications