A Simple Method to Avoid Bile Duct Injury during Percutaneous Radiofrequency Ablation Therapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma

• Main Authors: Hidetaka Takashima, Michihisa Moriguchi, Natsuko Hayashi, Kyohei Ikeda, Kiyoshi Ogiso, Chihiro Yokomizo, Hirokazu Uejima, Tadashi Itoh, Hideo Tomioka, Shigeto Mizuno, Seiji Shimizu, Koichiroh Yasui, Yoshito Itoh
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Karger Publishers 2020-11-01
• Series: Case Reports in Oncology
• Subjects: percutaneous radiofrequency ablation; hepatocellular carcinoma; percutaneous transhepatic cholangiodrainage; intraductal chilled saline perfusion
• Online Access: https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/510043

Hepatocellular carcinoma represents a major global health burden. Its treatment is often complicated by the anatomical location of tumors, which can lead to adverse outcomes. Radiofrequency ablation has recently gained attention as a safe method for treating hepatocellular carcinoma, but only in tumors that are not adjacent to bile ducts. Here, we report a new method for cooling the bile duct during radiofrequency ablation therapy, in which the outer jacket of an elastor needle was fixed and flash-cooled with chilled saline. This method was applied in a patient with hepatocellular carcinoma tumors near the main bile duct. The patient underwent successful radiofrequency ablation with bile duct cooling. The advantages of this method include low medical cost, simpler securing of nonexpanded bile ducts, and simultaneous removal upon termination of the radiofrequency ablation therapy. Bile duct complications associated with radiofrequency ablation typically have delayed onset. Computed tomography examination 2 months after treatment showed no bile duct injury in this case.