Radiofrequency ablation for hepatic malignancies: is needle tract cauterization necessary for preventing iatrogenic bleeding?

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate whether iatrogenic hemorrhage can be prevented by intrahepatic tract ablation following radiofrequency ablation (RFA) therapy for hepatic malignancies.

METHODS

A retrospective cohort study analyzing a prospective database in a single institution was conducted. The incidence of postprocedural complications was compared in two groups: one with cauterization of the needle tracts after RFA and the other without.

RESULTS

The complication rates of intraperitoneal hemorrhage were 1.05% (4/380) and 0.92% (6/652) in the nonablation group and the ablation group, respectively (p = 0.90). All of these 10 patients with iatrogenic bleeding were classified as Child-Pugh grade A. Among the 15 hemodialysis patients in this study, hemorrhage was seen in 2 (13.3%), compared with 8 (0.79%) of the nonhemodialysis patients (p = 0.0002). There were no statistically significant differences in the incidence of other complications including pleural effusion, serous ascites, pneumothorax, hemothorax, hepatic infarction, bile duct injury and pericardial effusion between the two groups. Gastrointestinal perforation, peritonitis or tumor seeding were not observed.

CONCLUSION

Our study found a high incidence of bleeding after RFA among hemodialysis patients. Irrespective of tract ablation being after RFA, iatrogenic hemorrhage appeared to be equivalent in this population.