www.cc.nih.gov/drd/rfa NIH RFA protocols: 1-800-411-1222 Thermal Ablation Overview: Radiofrequency Ablation and Hepatic Applications

Cryoablation has been used for many years during open surgery and is an effective method of tissue destruction. The ice ball may be easier than the RFA cloud to monitor with ultrasound, and cryo may be more effective in the ablation of tumor touching large blood vessels (speculative). However, RFA has less inflammatory response, less blood loss, fewer complications, and is easier to perform percutaneously due to the smaller probe size. However, several smaller cryo probes are recently available which may compare favorably with RFA (no studies to compare these). Microwave ablation may have theoretical advantages over RFA (if technical difficulties can be overcome) regarding uniformity and shape of thermal lesion. The thermal lesion heats up more uniformly, and is less dependent upon thermal conduction than RFA.