Comparison of the efficacy of laparoscopic hepatectomy and radiofrequency ablation for small hepatocellular carcinoma: A retrospective study

Table 1 Comparison of demographic characteristics between the two groups, n (%)

Variable	LH group (n = 109)	RFA group (n = 145)	t/χ2	P value
Age (years)	60.62 ± 12.37	62.45 ± 11.32	1.229	0.220
Male gender	92 (84.40)	125 (86.21)	0.163	0.687
BMI (kg/m2)	23.19 ± 3.06	22.68 ± 3.74	1.189	0.236
Type-II diabetes	17 (15.60)	25 (17.24)	0.122	0.727
Lineal descent cancer history	27 (24.77)	38 (26.21)	0.067	0.795
Alcohol use	44 (40.37)	56 (38.62)	0.079	0.778
Cigarette smoking	43 (39.45)	54 (37.24)	0.129	0.720
Child-Pugh classification ratio [A/(A + B) × 100%]	104 (95.41)	135 (93.10)	0.597	0.440
BCLC level [0/(0 + A) × 100%)]	24 (22.02)	36 (24.83)	0.272	0.602
HBsAg (+)	89 (81.65)	114 (78.62)	0.356	0.551
Hepatitis C antibody (+)	5 (4.59)	5 (3.45)	0.019	0.892
Liver cirrhosis	73 (66.97)	100 (68.97)	0.114	0.736
Portal hypertension	5 (4.59)	13 (8.97)	1.812	0.178
Tumor number			0.422	0.516
One	101 (92.66)	131 (90.34)
Two	8 (7.34)	14 (9.66)
Mean tumor size (cm)	3.05 ± 1.12	2.48 ± 0.93	4.319	< 0.001

BMI: Body mass index; BCLC: Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer; HBsAg: Hepatitis B surface antigen; LH: Laparoscopic hepatectomy; RFA: Radiofrequency ablation.

Table 2 Comparison of intraoperative and postoperative data between the two groups

Variable	LH group (n = 109)	RFA group (n = 145)	t/χ2	P value
Operating time (minutes)	120.52 ± 33.19	43.68 ± 8.48	23.598	< 0.001
Blood loss (mL)	240.05 ± 95.19	14.95 ± 4.67	24.665	< 0.001
Pain score on postoperative day 1 (points)	3.14 ± 0.93	0.95 ± 0.32	23.372	< 0.001
Time to ambulation after surgery (days)	2.32 ± 0.94	0.76 ± 0.27	16.808	< 0.001
Time to first oral intake after surgery (days)	2.42 ± 0.60	1.12 ± 0.14	22.103	< 0.001
AST on postoperative day 2 (IU/L)	155.03 ± 57.40	78.35 ± 37.74	12.117	< 0.001
Need for blood transfusion	26 (23.85)	5 (3.45)	24.179	< 0.001
Hospital stay (days)	10.42 ± 4.51	6.30 ± 2.90	8.327	< 0.001
Hospital costs (Chinese Yuan)	30563.72 ± 3447.61	22872.80 ± 2059.51	20.681	< 0.001

AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; LH: Laparoscopic hepatectomy; RFA: Radiofrequency ablation.

Table 3 Cox regression analysis of the impact variables on disease-free survival

Variable	Univariate		Multivariate
	HR (95%CI)	P value	HR (95%CI)	P value
Mean tumor size (≥ 2.84 vs < 2.84)	0.500 (0.310-0.810)	0.005	0.600 (0.370-0.970)	0.037
Platelet count (≤ 125.42 vs > 125.42)	0.667 (0.470-0.947)	0.022	0.700 (0.490-0.990)	0.045
Surgical approach (LH vs RFA)	0.550 (0.380-0.790)	0.001	0.500 (0.340-0.730)	< 0.001

HR: Hazard ratio; CI: Confidence interval; LH: Laparoscopic hepatectomy; RFA: Radiofrequency ablation.

Table 4 Cox regression analysis of the impact variables on overall survival

Variable	Univariate		Multivariate
	HR (95%CI)	P value	HR (95%CI)	P value
Mean tumor size (≥ 2.84 vs < 2.84)	0.550 (0.350-0.860)	0.008	0.650 (0.400-1.060)	0.085
Platelet count (≤ 125.42 vs > 125.42)	0.700 (0.500-0.980)	0.038	0.750 (0.520-1.080)	0.120
Surgical approach (LH vs RFA)	0.600 (0.420-0.860)	0.004	0.550 (0.380-0.790)	< 0.001

HR: Hazard ratio; CI: Confidence interval; LH: Laparoscopic hepatectomy; RFA: Radiofrequency ablation.