Effectiveness and Safety of Percutaneous Microwave Ablation of Metastatic Splenic Lesions

This retrospective study was conducted to describe the technique, effectiveness, and safety of percutaneous microwave ablation of metastatic lesions in the spleen. A total of 10 patients (female-to-male ratio, 7:3; mean age, 65 years) with 11 splenic metastases underwent microwave ablation between March 2018 and February 2025. The median lesion size was 2.2 cm (IQR, 1.2-4.0 cm). The mean ablation time per lesion was 13 minutes (range, 5-25 minutes). There were 2 mild adverse events (1 minimal hematoma and 1 trace stable pneumothorax), classified as Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR) Grade 1. At a median follow-up time of 18.5 months (IQR, 7-75 months), local control was reported in 90% of the lesions (n = 10). Percutaneous microwave ablation of splenic metastases appears to be an effective minimally invasive treatment modality to achieve local control and splenic preservation with mild, self-limiting adverse events.