Abstract:
Objective This study aims to discuss the safety of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and the mechanisms to prevent its complications.
Methods A retrospective study was conducted on the clinical data of 729 RFA treatments to 653 HCC nodules in 531 patients during a 10-year period between January 2001 and June 2011.
Results The number of treatments using computed tomography (CT)-guided RFA, digital subtraction angiography (DSA)-guided RFA, and DSA combined with Dyna-CT-guided RFA was 165, 351, and 213, respectively. Two among 729 patients (0.3%) died, which was attributed to gastro- intestinal hemorrhage and liver failure, respectively. Among the patients, complications occurred in 4.1% (30/729): intra-abdominal hemorrhage in 0.5% (4/729), bile duct injury in 0.1% (1/729), liver failure in 0.1% (1/729), pulmonary complications (hemothorax and pulmonary infection) in 0.3% (2/729), pneumothorax in 1.8% (13/729), skin bum in 0.4% (3/729), portal vein injury in 0.4% (3/ 729), liver abscess in 0.1% (1/729), and gastrointestinal hemorrhage in 0.3% (2/729), with no other serious complications. The rate of complications for the CT-guided RFA was 10.9% (18/165), whereas that for the DSA-guided and DSA combined with Dyna-CT-guided RFA was 2.1% (12/564). The difference between the two groups was statistically significant (χ2 = 24.95, P < 0.05).
Conclusion Com- plications may occur after RFA, which can be reduced by cautious choice of suitable cases judging from the sedimentation of lipiodol and the relationship between the lesions and important organs or tissues.