Local ablative procedures of the liver

Local ablative therapies have become an important part in the portfolio of treatment for patients with malignant tumors especially in the liver. Although percutaneous ethanol injection still plays a role, current guidelines favor radiofrequency ablation with a higher efficacy for complete tumor destruction. Nevertheless transplantation and surgical resection remain the gold standard due to their superiority in local control and improved survival. In this manuscript we discuss the technique in detail.