Ultrasound-guided thrombin injection combined with ethanol ablation for rabbit liver

Objective To explore the effect of ethanol ablation(EA)combined with ultrasound-guided thrombin injection for rabbit liver.Methods The livers of 6healthy New Zealand rabbits were surgically exposed.The left lobe was subjected to the treatment of thrombin(250IU)combined with EA,while the right lobe was treated with EA only(served as the controls).CEUS was performed before and immediately after thrombin injection to estimate the blood perfusion of liver. Then the treated livers were collected 48hafter treatment to measure the mean necrotic diameters,and then were observed pathologically.Results CEUS demonstrated that the perfusion of left lobe was arrested after injection of thrombin,and the peak intensity(PI)dropped from (-50.38±4.12)dB to(-59.77±3.28)dB(P=0.003),while the right lobe,perfusion remained homogeneous as before.The mean diameter of the necrotic area in left lobe was(1.73±0.54)cm,while in right lobe was(0.62±0.23)cm (P=0.001).Conclusion Ultrasound-guided thrombin injection can partially block blood perfusion of rabbit liver and greatly promote the effect of ethanol ablation for rabbit liver.