Ablation Treatments

Ablation literally means destruction. In the medical field, ablation treatments have been applied by interventional radiologists since the early 2000s as a complementary or alternative to surgery in cancers of organs such as liver, lung, kidney and pancreas. They are also used for some bone tumors, small breast cancers not exceeding 2 cm in diameter, breast fibroadenomas and uterine fibroids. In recent years, benign thyroid nodules, thyroid papillary cancers smaller than 2 cm and parathyroid adenomas have also been successfully treated with ablation methods in our country and in the world.

Radiofrequency (RFA), microwave (MW) and cryoablation (CA) are the most popular ablation methods. The affected tissue (which may be cancerous or benign) is burned or frozen with a special needle (electrode) by entering the formation to be treated through the skin (percutaneously) under the guidance of imaging methods such as ultrasonography (US) or computed tomography (CT).

Important advantages of ablation:

• No surgical incision is required.
• It can usually only be performed under local anesthesia and sedation.
• Most of the procedures are completed in less than 30 minutes.
• There is no need for hospitalization after ablation for problems of superficial organs such as thyroid, parathyroid and breast. The patient can go home after resting for a while after the procedure.
• For problems of organs such as liver, pancreas, kidney, bone and uterus, ablation is usually performed under general anesthesia. However, the hospitalization period is short. The patient can be discharged the same day or the next day.
• Ablation procedures can be repeated if necessary and do not constitute an obstacle for a surgery that may be required later.