Key clinical point: Fever following radiofrequency ablation in hepatocellular carcinoma patients was independently associated with younger age, low serum albumin level, general anesthesia, tumor size, and tumor number.
Major finding: The adjusted odds ratios for the independent predictors of fever in these patients were 0.96 for younger age, 0.49 for low serum albumin level, 2.06 for general anesthesia, 1.52 for tumor size, and 1.71 for tumor number. HCC patients who developed fevers after radiofrequency ablation also had significantly longer hospital stays than those without fevers (9.06 days vs 5.50 days).
Study details : The data come from a retrospective study of 272 adults with new or recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma who underwent ultrasonography-guided radiofrequency ablation (RFA) between April 2014 and February 2019.
Disclosures: The study received no outside funding. The researchers had no financial conflicts to disclose.
Source: Chen P-Y et al. Cancers (Basel). 2021 Oct 22. doi: 10.3390/cancers13215303.