Key clinical point: Addition of dexamethasone significantly reduced the incidence of post-embolization syndrome in HCC patients after transarterial chemoembolization.
Major finding: The incidence of post-embolization events after TACE included abdominal pain in 55.6% in patients who underwent TACE plus lipiodol and chemotherapeutic emulsion vs. 36.1% in those who also received dexamethasone. Rates of fever, nausea, vomiting, and incidence of infection also were significantly lower in the dexamethasone patients compared to standard TACE patients.
Study details: The data come from a retrospective study of 255 HCC patients who underwent transarterial chemoembolization (TACE); patients were divided into two groups nonrandomly to receive TACE using lipiodol + chemotherapeutic emulsion group (133 patients) or TACE using lipiodol + dexamethasone + chemotherapeutic emulsion group (122 patients).
Disclosures: The study received no outside funding. The researchers had no financial conflicts to disclose.
Source: Lu H et al. BMC Gastroenterol. 2021 Jun 11. doi: 10.1186/s12876-021-01839-w.