Radiofrequency ablation of gallbladder bed in radical surgery for stage T1b gallbladder cancer

Objective To study the value of radiofrequency ablation of gallbladder beds in radical surgery for stage T1b gallbladder cancer. Methods A retrospective study was conducted on 21 patients with stage T1b gallbladder cancer treated in the Department of Hepatobiliary Pancreas and Spleen Surgery, West Campus, Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, Capital Medical University, from April 1, 2011 to March 31, 2019. Patients who were diagnosed with frozen section during operation were included into the surgery group. Patients who were diagnosed postoperatively and underwent radical surgery for the gallbladder carcinoma were included in the secondary surgery group. The differences in surgical time, bleeding volume, survival rate, and survival time between the two groups after regular follow-up were compared, and the 5-year cumulative survival rates and overall survival time of the two groups were calculated. Results All patients underwent radical gallbladder cancer surgery. There were 14 males and 7 females, aged from 26 to 70 (49.0±13.5) years. There were no perioperative deaths. There were 15 patients in the operation group, and 6 patients in the secondary surgery group. The bleeding volume of the surgery group was significantly less than the secondary surgery group [(101.3±35.5) ml vs. (177.0±44.6) ml, P 0.05). The 5-year cumulative survival rate for the two groups of patients was 56.5%, and the overall survival time was (79.0±9.3) months. Conclusions Radiofrequency ablation of the gallbladder bed was safe and effective in radical surgery of T1b gallbladder cancer. For T1b stage gallbladder cancer, which is difficult to diagnose during surgery, secondary radical surgery achieved the same results as primary radical surgery. Key words: Gallbladder neoplasms; Radiofrequency ablation; T1b stage; Gallbladder bed