South Florida Vascular Associates offers percutaneous ablation as a minimally invasive treatment for liver, bone, or kidney tumors.
Using ultrasound or X-ray guidance, your interventional radiologist places a small probe through the skin into the tumor. The probe then heats up and kills the tumor and surrounding tissue. At this time, a biopsy may be taken through the same site.
For percutaneous ablation of bone metastasis, a kyphoplasty or vertebroplasty procedure is also performed to strengthen the bone and prevent fracture.
Percutaneous ablation is very safe and can be done as an outpatient procedure in the office with moderate conscious sedation. Studies have shown that this procedure is as effective as surgery for small tumors and can be a curative treatment when only one or a few lesions are present.*
Percutaneous ablation can be repeated as often as necessary to control the disease. Sometimes, this treatment can be a bridge to surgery as well.