Safety and efficacy of nanoknife ablation for unresectable hilar cholangiocarcinoma

Objective To evaluate the safety and curative effect of nanoknife ablation in the treatment of unresectable hilar cholangiocarcinoma. Methods 15 patients with unresectable hilar cholangiocarcinoma received nanoknife ablation treatment from March 2016 to May 2017. The clinical variables of the patients before and after operation were analyzed. Results The operations in all the patients carred out successfully. Cardiac arrhythmia occurred in some patients during the operation accidentally.The level of CA19-9 increased significantly on postoperative day 1, 3 and then gradually decreased in 13 patients; one patient had no significant change of CA19-9, and the data for another patient was always in the normal range. The liver function of all patients gradually improved after operation, and the level of total bilirubin, AST and ALT showed a downward trend. The myocardial enzyme in all the patients increased on postoperative day 1, then returned to normal within the following 5 days. Postoperative complications included atrial fibrillation (1 case), upper gastrointestinal bleeding (1 case). The recanalization rates of the bile duct at 2 weeks, 1 month, and 2 months after surgery were 66.6%, 86.6%, and 93.3%, respectively. Conclusion Nanoknife ablation has superior safety, noteworthy efficacy and less complications in the treatment of the unresec-table hilar cholangiocarcinoma in the short term. Key words: Hilar cholangiocarcinoma, unresectable; Nanoknife ablation; Bile duct recanalization