Complications of Radiofrequency Ablation of Liver Tumors

Complications of RFA

1. Vascular
2. Biliary
3. Extrahepatic

Major complication = those that if left untreated will threaten patient's life, causing substantial morbidity and disability, resulting in hospital admission or lengthen the hospital stay

Frequency of Complications

• 4% per complete treatment or 1.9% per treatment session (Major)
• 1.7% per complete treatment or 0.8% per treatment session (Minor)
• In a series of 1000 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, tumor seeding was the most common complication (1.5%), followed by liver abscess (0.7%), biloma (0.7%), portal vein thrombosis (0.4%) and bleeding requiring blood transfusion (0.4%).

Image Credit:

http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/photocat/photos_more_pc.cfm?pg=rfa

Reference:

Akahane M, Koga H, Kato N, et al. Complications of percutaneous radiofrequency ablation for hepatocellular carcinoma: imaging spectrum and management. Radiographics 2005; 25:S57-S68.