Laparoscopic microwave ablation versus percutaneous microwave ablation of hepatic malignancies: Efficacy and recurrence-free survival outcomes in patients

Hepatic thermal ablation has been found to be effective and equivalent to resection in certain liver histologies. Of the 16,000 annual liver ablations performed in the United States, only 13% (2,080 ablations) are performed laparoscopically. The laparoscopic technique remains underused even with the benefits of improved staging and better access to tumors. The purpose of this study is to compare laparoscopic microwave ablation versus percutaneous microwave ablation in terms of efficacy and recurrence-free survival outcomes in patients with hepatic malignancies.A comparative analysis was performed on 275 patients (289 ablation procedures) who underwent laparoscopic microwave ablation or percutaneous microwave ablation between February 2011 and May 2021. Ablation success was confirmed postprocedure and recurrence was monitored at follow-up via contrast-enhanced computed tomography/magnetic resonance imaging and/or computed tomography/positron emission tomography.The groups were similar for sex, age, body mass index, location of tumor, size of tumor, and number of tumors. Ablation success was 100% in both groups. Local recurrence was significant (5%: laparoscopic microwave ablation vs 22%: percutaneous microwave ablation, P = .002) and same-lobe recurrence (21%: laparoscopic microwave ablation vs 24%: percutaneous microwave ablation) was lower in the laparoscopic microwave ablation group. Median recurrence-free survival was 15.8 months for the laparoscopic microwave ablation group and 5.6 months for the percutaneous microwave ablation group (P = .0002). Overall, 90-day complications were lower in the laparoscopic microwave ablation group (11%) compared with the percutaneous microwave ablation group (21%) (P = .11).Laparoscopic surgical ablation is a critical surgical skill that must be taught in fellowship. Laparoscopic microwave ablation leads to better tumor specific outcomes and oncologic outcomes demonstrating clinical efficacy in the treatment of hepatic malignancies compared with percutaneous microwave ablation.