Recently Lao Wang encountered trouble, in the unit’s routine physical examination found lung cancer, after a series of hospital examinations, fortunately, early lung cancer, surgical resection can be completely cured. However, things were so unsatisfactory. After a series of preoperative evaluations, Lao Wang was listed by the doctor as not suitable for surgery because he was 80 years old, his heart had undergone bypass surgery 20 years ago, and he had the old problem of three steps of asthma. This made Lao Wang very worried. If he didn’t have an operation, he would die. If he didn’t have an operation, he would die. Lao Wang was so worried that he couldn’t sleep at night.
Fortunately, now the Internet information is very developed, Lao Wang’s daughter learned on the Internet that for Lao Wang’s condition, there is a local minimally invasive physical therapy called microwave ablation, which can replace surgery and achieve the same therapeutic effect. Lao Wang and his daughter came to Shanghai Lung Hospital, a specialized hospital for lung disease diagnosis and treatment, and underwent microwave ablation of lung cancer. The operation went very smoothly. Lao Wang recovered well and was discharged two days later. He and his daughter happily set foot on the train to return home.
A seemingly troublesome disease, through a small minimally invasive surgery, the problem is solved immediately, so what kind of magical technology is microwave ablation! Today we are going to talk about microwave ablation of lung cancer.
Topic 1: What is the principle of microwave ablation?
Microwave ablation was first inspired by the principle of microwave oven heating. During ablation surgery, under the guidance of CT positioning, a microwave needle is inserted into the tumor through the skin, and the microwave electromagnetic field is used to produce a high temperature of up to 60-150 C in a short time, which can cause coagulation and necrosis of tumor cell proteins, thus eliminating the tumor and achieving the purpose of cure.
Topic 2: Which patients are suitable for microwave ablation?
① Patients with early tumors who could not tolerate surgery because of old age, poor cardiopulmonary function or poor general condition.
② It is suitable for the palliative treatment of inoperable advanced tumors.
③ Advanced tumors or recurrent or metastatic tumors with poor effect of radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
④ Tumors adjacent to large blood vessels or important organs, which can not be operated because of the high risk of operation.
Topic 3: What are the advantages of microwave ablation over surgery?
① The operation is minimally invasive, which has the advantages of small injury and quick recovery.
② Microwave ablation is a physical therapy without side effects.
(3) that method has accurate position and good selectivity, and can directly inactivate tumor cells.
④ The operation time is short, only 30 minutes for a single time, and the ablation treatment can be repeated for many times.
Topic 4: How to judge the efficacy of microwave ablation? CT images were reexamined 3 months after the operation. After microwave ablation, the tumor tissue in the lesion was coagulated and necrotic, just like a meat bun with thin skin and big stuffing, which we called “meat bun sign”. The CT images of the lung lesions reduced in size and became fibrous lesions 6-12 months after ablation, which is the “gold standard” for evaluating the efficacy of ablation.
Topic 5: Where is the “corpse” of the tumor ablated by microwave?
① Necrosis is communicated with the airway and is discharged from the body through coughing, and thin-walled cavities are formed inside the organs.
② The focus gradually shrinks and absorbs by itself and becomes fibrous focus.
Topic 6: What are the common complications of microwave ablation for lung cancer?
The common complications of microwave ablation of
lung cancer include pneumothorax or subcutaneous emphysema, bleeding, postoperative pain, local skin burns, postoperative infection, cavity formation and so on. The incidence of complications after microwave ablation surgery is very low, in hospitals with ablation surgery qualifications, after timely treatment by professional doctors, complications can be properly handled.
In a word, tumor ablation therapy has been recognized by doctors and patients, and this “art on the tip of the needle” has become an indispensable part of the comprehensive treatment of cancer. Dear friends, if you have the same trouble as Lao Wang, I hope the topic we talked about can bring you some direction of treatment.
Lung cancer
