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Radiofrequency thermoablation is a locoregional procedure based on the use of electromagnetic waves that induce movement and consequently the production of heat. This is the basis for the coagulative necrosis produced in the tissues. The method, experimented with and developed in the '90s, is today extensively used in the treatment of focal hepatic lesions, both primary and secondary. The factors that condition the procedure are related essentially to the characteristics of the tumours and to the possibility of obtaining a predictable area of necrosis that guarantees the radicality of the treatment. As regards primary neoplasms, it should be stressed that the treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma is implemented only in a small percentage of cases due to both the stage of the cirrhosis and because a wide resection is not justified for small-sized lesions or for recurrences after resection. As far as liver metastases are concerned, particularly those from the colon-rectum, surgery is becoming increasingly indicated. Obviously the conditions are decidedly less demanding than those of surgery in liver parenchyma with cirrhosis. Radiofrequency thermal ablation, even in this condition, has a place as an alternative or in combination with liver resection, particularly during recurrences or in cases of multiple metastases that require extensive extirpative operations. The authors present their experience over the period from February 1999 to December 2002 in 82 patients, 71 with hepatocellular carcinoma and 11 with metastases, treated with radiofrequency thermoablation. Depending upon the site, the number of lesions and the Child-Pugh functional classes in patients with cirrhosis, 117 treatments were carried out: the percutaneous approach was used in 77 cases and the open procedure in 36, while the thermoablation was combined with surgical resection in 4 cases. The results are examined on the basis of perioperative morbidity and mortality and local recurrence, and the time of hospitalisation is compared in the different patient groups. The authors conclude favourably for this procedure, which is associated with an extremely low percentage of complications and with an almost total lack of perioperative mortality, and in some cases may be a valid alternative and in other cases a useful complement to resection treatment.

Over the past few years different methods of achieving haemostasis in surgery have been developed. Among these methods, bipolar electrothermal coagulation carried out with the "LigaSure Bipolar Vessel Sealing System" has found numerous applications in some types of abdominal and pelvic surgery, especially when performed laparoscopically, where traditional methods of haemostasis sometimes prove more difficult to perform and are often unsafe. The authors also experimented with the use of electrothermal cautery in thyroid surgery, evaluating its efficacy in achieving haemostasis, as well as in reducing a number of complications such as hypoparathyroidism and recurrent palsy, which can be obtained utilizing the ability of the procedure to produce haemostasis without heat dispersion in the adjacent tissues. Analysing their experience with 67 cases of total thyroidectomy performed with the help of bipolar electrothermal cautery, the authors report a 4.5% incidence of transient hypoparathyroidism and a 1.5% incidence of transient monolateral recurrent lesions. These incidences proved significantly inferior to those reported by the same authors in a recent analysis of 579 total thyroidectomies carried out since 1994. The results, however, were similar to those reported in literature. The authors conclude by confirming the importance of the LigaSure system for haemostasis in thyroid surgery, stressing the fact that the routine use of this method may be limited due to the high cost of the equipment.