title: Incidence and Risk Factors for Liver Abscess After Thermal Ablation of Liver Neoplasm.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and microwave ablation (MWA) are the most frequently used thermal ablation methods for the treatment of liver cancer. Liver abscess is a common and severe complication of thermal ablation treatment.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this study was to determine the incidence and risk factors of liver abscess formation after thermal ablation of liver cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  The clinical data of 423 patients who underwent 691 thermal ablation procedures for liver cancer were collected in order to retrospectively analyze the basic characteristics, incidence, and risk factors associated with liver abscess formation. Patients with multiple risk factors for liver abscess formation were enrolled in a risk factor group, and patients with no risk factors were enrolled in a control group. The chi-square test and multiple logistic regression analysis were used to analyze the relationship between the occurrence of liver abscesses and potential risk factors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Two hundred and eight patients underwent 385 RFA procedures, and 185 patients underwent 306 MWA procedures. The total incidence of liver abscesses was 1.7%, while the rates in the RFA group (1.8%) and MWA groups (1.6%) were similar (P > 0.05). The rates of liver abscesses in patients who had child-pugh class B and class C cirrhosis (P = 0.0486), biliary tract disease (P = 0.0305), diabetes mellitus (P = 0.0344), and porta hepatis tumors (P = 0.0123) were 4.0%, 6.7%, 6.5%, and 13.0%, respectively. There was a statistically significant difference between these four groups and the control group (all P < 0.05). The incidence of liver abscesses in the combined ablation and percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI) group (P = 0.0026) was significantly lower than that of the ablation group (P < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The incidence of liver abscesses after liver cancer thermal ablation is low. Child-Pugh Class B and Class C cirrhosis, biliary tract disease, diabetes mellitus, and porta hepatis tumors are four significant risk factors. Combined ablation and PEI reduces the rate of liver abscesses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatric Gastroenterology, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, China; Department of Oncology, Yantai Affiliated Hospital, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, China.
authors.forename: Xiu-Feng
authors.initials: XF
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology, Yantai Affiliated Hospital, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, China.
authors.forename: Na
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Yantai Affiliated Hospital, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, China.
authors.forename: Xu-Fang
authors.initials: XF
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Yantai Affiliated Hospital, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatric Gastroenterology, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, China.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yan
keywords: Ablation; Incidence; Liver Abscess; Liver Neoplasm; Risk Factors