Tumor Ablation

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Treatment for :  Tumors in the liver, kidney, bone, soft tissue (like muscle, thyroid nodule etc.) and other locations.

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Why it’s done :  Percutaneous ablation allows minimally invasive destruction of tumors without the need for open surgery.

 

How it’s done :  An interventional radiologist uses ultrasound, CT, or both to guide specialized needles into the tumor. The needles use heat (microwave or radiofrequency ablation), cold (cryoablation), or rapid-pulsed electricity (irreversible electroporation) to kill the tumor without requiring open surgery.

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Level of anesthesia :  Conscious sedation or general anesthesia

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Risks :  There is little risk of bleeding, infection, damage to surrounding structures, organ damage, rare tumor seeding.

 

Post-procedure:  After ablation, patients proceed to the post-anesthesia care unit for recovery. A post-procedure imaging scan may be performed to determine the effect of the ablation. Most patients are discharged home the same day. Antibiotics and/or pain medications may be prescribed to prevent pain or infection after the procedure.

 

Follow-up:  A follow-up CT, PET-CT or MRI is usually performed 1 month after treatment along with clinic visit in interventional radiology to determine the results and allow for further treatment planning.