Percutaneous hepatic ablation: what needs to be known in 2014

Percutaneous treatments for liver tumors were initially reserved for patients deemed to be inoperable and whose tumors were small in both size and number. As a result of the widening range of both techniques and technologies these treatments have gradually become incorporated into increasingly complex treatment strategies for increasingly broad patient groups. The place reserved for these techniques, which are still dominated by monopolar radiofrequency ablation, which is now facing strong competition from second-generation microwaves, is governed by each center's knowledge and skills in the techniques. This review describes the possible indications for percutaneous ablation depending on clinical findings and the technical and technological choices made.