A discussion of reasons and methods of prevention and cure for serious complications of radiofrequency ablations in the treatments of hepatocellular carcinomas / 中华放射学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the reasons and the methods of prevention and cure for serious complications of radiofrequency ablations in the treatments of hepatocellular carcinomas. Methods A total of 410 patients with BCLC at A or B stage of hepatocellular carcinomas in our hospital were enrolled between November 2014 and June 2009. These patients underwent a total of 504 times radiofrequency ablations for the treatments of liver lesions. This retrospective study analysed the reasons and the strategies of prevention and cure for the serious complications. Results In the patients with a total of 504 times radiofrequency ablations, 2 patients had massive hemorrhage caused by puncture injuries, 2 patients had the tumors which were close to the liver capsules and 1 patient had bile peritonitis caused by the injury of thermal ablation on the gallbladder. The maximum diameter of tumor was 5 cm. That tumor was close to the gallbladder. 2 patients had needle tract metastases caused by incompletely needle path ablations. 1 of the 2 patients had a tumor near the liver capsule, and the other patient had un-enough temperature for needle path ablation. Tumor outbreaks were happened in 2 patients. 1 of the 2 patients had a tumor which was located in the liver capsule and close to the portal vein. The other patient had a 12 cm diameter tumor with rich blood supplement. 2 patients had liver abscesses. 1 of the 2 patients had a tumor near the ascending colon, and the other patient had diabetes. 1 patient had colonic perforation caused by thermal ablation. The tumor in that patient was located in the right hepatic lobe segment and adjacent to the ascending colon. The incidence of serious complications was 1.98% (10/504). Conclusions The incidence of the serious complications of radiofrequency ablations for the treatments of hepatocellular carcinomas is relatively low. The main reasons for the serious complications were direct injuries caused by punctures, heat radiation injuries, tumors adjacent to large blood vessels, gallbladders and intestines, tumors with abundant blood supplement, needle paths fail to cross normal liver tissues, low scores of liver function, weak immune system and diabetes. The key points for avoiding and reducing the serious complications are preoperative evaluations of patients' basic situations, choices of appropriate puncture channels and control ranges of ablations when tumors are close to important blood vessels, intestines and gallbladders.