Evaluation of short- and medium-term efficacy and complications of ultrasound-guided ablation for small liver cancer

Table 1 Comparison of basic information between the two groups, n (%)

Basic information	MWA group (n = 66)	Laparoscope group (n = 52)	t/χ2	P value
Age (yr)	58.7 ± 8.6	57.3 ± 9.1	0.856	0.394
BMI (kg/m2)	24.1 ± 2.0	23.8 ± 2.2	0.774	0.440
Lesion diameter (cm2)	2.13 ± 0.48	2.01 ± 0.44	1.398	0.165
Number of lesions	2.14 ± 0.50	2.03 ± 0.48	1.207	0.230
Gender			0.952	0.329
Male	36 (54.55)	33 (63.46)
Female	30 (45.45)	19 (36.54)
Smoking			1.187	0.276
Yes	24 (36.36)	14 (26.92)
No	42 (63.64)	38 (73.08)
Alcohol			2.638	0.104
Yes	22 (33.33)	25 (48.08)
No	44 (66.67)	27 (51.92)
Child–pugh			2.336	0.126
Class A	30 (45.45)	31 (59.62)
Class B	36 (54.55)	21 (40.38)
History of hepatitis B			1.291	0.256
Yes	39 (59.09)	36 (69.23)
No	27 (40.91)	16 (30.77)
AFP (ng/mL)			0.968	0.325
≤ 20	22 (33.33)	13 (25.00)
>20	44 (66.67)	39 (75.00)

MWA: Microwave ablation; BMI: Body mass index; AFP: Alpha fetal protein.

Table 2 Comparison of surgical trauma indexes between the two groups (mean ± SD)

Group	n	Operation time (min)	Blood loss (mL)	Hospital stays (d)	Medical expenses (Thousand Yuan)
MWA group	66	55.81 ± 9.64	8.94 ± 2.26	3.3 ± 0.8	2.28 ± 0.21
Laparoscope group	52	62.30 ± 10.57	22.83 ± 6.18	5.1 ± 1.3	2.91 ± 0.30
t value		-3.479	-16.897	-9.249	-13.401
P value		0.001	0.000	0.000	0.000

Table 3 Effects of surgical treatment on liver function indexes in two groups (mean ± SD)

Index	Before surgery	2 d after surgery	1 wk after surgery
ALT (U/L)
MWA group (n = 66)	32.5 ± 7.0	175.3 ± 36.8a	57.1 ± 10.4a
Laparoscope group (n = 52)	34.1 ± 6.7	193.0 ± 40.2a	66.5 ± 12.1a
t value	-1.256	-2.490	-4.535
P value	0.212	0.014	0.000
AST (U/L)
MWA group (n = 66)	34.9 ± 8.6	193.7 ± 33.2a	64.2 ± 15.0a
Laparoscope group (n = 52)	32.6 ± 7.3	218.0 ± 41.8a	76.7 ± 16.3a
t value	1.540	-3.520	-4.326
P value	0.126	0.001	0.000
TBIL (μmol/L)
MWA group (n = 66)	15.9 ± 3.0	36.8 ± 9.2a	24.1 ± 6.5a
Laparoscope group (n = 52)	16.3 ± 4.1	39.5 ± 9.8a	26.4 ± 7.3a
t value	-0.612	-1.538	-1.807
P value	0.542	0.127	0.073
ALB (g/L)
MWA group (n = 66)	39.8 ± 3.1	35.0 ± 3.4a	37.8 ± 2.8a
Laparoscope group (n = 52)	41.0 ± 4.4	34.2 ± 3.1a	36.9 ± 3.1a
t value	-1.736	1.319	1.653
P value	0.085	0.190	0.101

^aP < 0.05 vs this group before operation.

MWA: Microwave ablation; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; AST: aspartate aminotransferase; TBIL: Total bilirubin; ALB: Albumin.

Table 4 Comparison of serum alpha fetal protein, carcinoembryonic antigen and peripheral blood regulatory T lymphocytes levels before and after surgery in 2 groups (mean ± SD)

Index	Before surgery	4 wk after surgery	8 wk after surgery
AFP (ng/mL)
MWA group (n = 66)	98.6 ± 20.5	43.2 ± 14.3a	15.1 ± 4.6a
Laparoscope group (n = 52)	103.8 ± 25.1	39.7 ± 13.6a	13.6 ± 4.8a
t value	-1.239	1.349	1.725
P value	0.218	0.180	0.087
CEA (ng/mL)
MWA group (n = 66)	14.82 ± 4.16	7.18 ± 2.30a	2.29 ± 0.77a
Laparoscope group (n = 52)	16.33 ± 5.28	8.01 ± 2.57a	2.56 ± 0.81a
t value	-1.738	-1.848	-1.848
P value	0.085	0.067	0.067
Treg (%)
MWA group (n = 66)	9.53 ± 2.33	6.81 ± 1.53a	5.52 ± 1.00a
laparoscope group (n = 52)	10.04 ± 2.56	7.41 ± 1.76a	5.80 ± 1.43a
t value	-1.130	-1.979	-1.250
P value	0.261	0.050	0.214

^aP < 0.05 vs this group before operation.

AFP: alpha fetal protein; CEA: Carcinoembryonic antigen; Treg: Peripheral blood regulatory T lymphocytes.

Table 5 Comparison of survival rate between the two groups, n (%)

Group	n	Progression-free survival	Overall survival
MWA group	66	25 (37.88)	44 (66.67)
Laparoscope group	52	23 (44.23)	40 (76.92)
χ2		0.486	1.492
P value		0.486	0.222

MWA: Microwave ablation.

Table 6 Comparison of complication rate between two groups, n (%)

Group	n	Abdominal infection	Gastrointestinal bleeding	Upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage	Complication rate
MWA group	66	2	0	1	3 (4.55)
Laparoscope group	52	3	2	0	5 (9.62)
χ2					1.183
P value					0.277

MWA: Microwave ablation.