Patient selection: hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) undergoing RF ablation
High risk locations for radiofrequency ablation:
(1) adjacent to large vessel (artery, vein, bile duct)
(2) adjacent to a extrahepatic organ (heart, lung, gallbladder, right adrenal gland, right kidney, stomach, colon)
where:
• “Adjacent to” indicate a distance < 5 mm.
Complications occurred in 6% when in a high risk location vs 3.5% elsewhere.
Complications associated with a high-risk location
(1) hemorrhage
(2) GI perforation
(3) peritonitis
(4) pleural effusion
(5) hepatic infarction
(6) portal vein thrombosis
(7) secondary peritonitis
