Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2014 Mar 27;6(3):107-13.
doi: 10.4254/wjh.v6.i3.107.

Complications of radiofrequency ablation of hepatic tumors: Frequency and risk factors

Alexandre Zanchenko Fonseca  1 , Stephanie Santin  1 , Luiz Guilherme Lisboa Gomes  1 , Jaques Waisberg  1 , Marcelo Augusto Fontenelle Ribeiro Jr  1
Affiliations
Review

Complications of radiofrequency ablation of hepatic tumors: Frequency and risk factors

Alexandre Zanchenko Fonseca et al. World J Hepatol. .

Abstract

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) has become an important option in the therapy of primary and secondary hepatic tumors. Surgical resection is still the best treatment option, but only a few of these patients are candidates for surgery: multilobar disease, insufficient liver reserve that will lead to liver failure after resection, extra-hepatic disease, proximity to major bile ducts and vessels, and co-morbidities. RFA has a low mortality and morbidity rate and is considered to be safe. Thus, complications occur and vary widely in the literature. Complications are caused by thermal damage, direct needle injury, infection and the patient's co-morbidities. Tumor type, type of approach, number of lesions, tumor localization, underlying hepatic disease, the physician's experience, associated hepatic resection and lesion size have been described as factors significantly associated with complications. The physician in charge should promptly recognize high-risk patients more susceptible to complications, perform a close post procedure follow-up and manage them early and adequately if they occur. We aim to describe complications from RFA of hepatic tumors and their risk factors, as well as a few techniques to avoid them. This way, others can decrease their morbidity rates with better outcomes.

Keywords: Complications; Hepatic tumors; Hepatocellular carcinoma; Radiofrequency ablation; Risk factors.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Third-degree grounding pad skin burn on the right thigh.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Tumor seeding on needle entry site after percutaneous radiofrequency ablation.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Chaib E, Ribeiro Jr. MAF, Saad WA. Epidemiologia e Fatores de Risco. In: Carcinoma Hepatocelular: dos fatores de risco ao tratamento., editor. São Paulo: Editora Atheneu; 2004. pp. 5–16.
    1. McGrane S, McSweeney SE, Maher MM. Which patients will benefit from percutaneous radiofrequency ablation of colorectal liver metastases? Critically appraised topic. Abdom Imaging. 2008;33:48–53. - PubMed
    1. Goldberg SN, Grassi CJ, Cardella JF, Charboneau JW, Dodd GD, Dupuy DE, Gervais D, Gillams AR, Kane RA, Lee FT, et al. Image-guided tumor ablation: standardization of terminology and reporting criteria. J Vasc Interv Radiol. 2005;16:765–778. - PubMed
    1. Chen TM, Huang PT, Lin LF, Tung JN. Major complications of ultrasound-guided percutaneous radiofrequency ablations for liver malignancies: single center experience. J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2008;23:e445–e450. - PubMed
    1. de Baère T, Risse O, Kuoch V, Dromain C, Sengel C, Smayra T, Gamal El Din M, Letoublon C, Elias D. Adverse events during radiofrequency treatment of 582 hepatic tumors. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2003;181:695–700. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources