Microwave ablation

Last revised by Andrew Murphy on 23 Mar 2023

Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data

Citation:

Di Muzio B, Murphy A, Bell D, Microwave ablation. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 24 Apr 2024) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-71016

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-71016

Permalink:

https://radiopaedia.org/articles/71016

rID:

71016

Article created:

14 Sep 2019, Bruno Di Muzio ◉ ◈

Disclosures:

At the time the article was created Bruno Di Muzio had no recorded disclosures.

View Bruno Di Muzio's current disclosures

Last revised:

23 Mar 2023, Andrew Murphy ◉

Disclosures:

At the time the article was last revised Andrew Murphy had no financial relationships to ineligible companies to disclose.

View Andrew Murphy's current disclosures

Revisions:

5 times, by 3 contributors - see full revision history and disclosures

Systems:

Interventional

Synonyms:

Microwave ablations (MWA)
Microwave ablations

Microwave ablation (MWA) is the application of electromagnetic waves to treat solid tumours. By causing oscillation of polar water molecules, microwaves produce frictional heating and ultimately induce cellular death via coagulation necrosis. This technique has been largely used for the treatment of tumours in the liver, kidney, lung, and bone.

Indications

liver
- hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)
- metastases from colorectal cancer
pancreas
- advanced and non-resectable pancreatic tumours - pain control
kidney
- small renal masses
lung
- lung tumours
bone
- painful metastatic lesions
- osteoid osteoma

Advantages

over radiofrequency ablation (RFA)
- less heat sink effect
  - allowing efficient ablation close to large vessels
- propagate into fat and calcifications
  - leading to homogeneous coagulation necrosis
- consistently higher intratumoural temperatures
  - cause larger and fast necrosis
- faster ablation times
  - lower doses of sedatives might be required
- larger tumour ablation volumes