Disadvantages of HIFU ultrasonic knife

The new surgical method, HIFU ultrasonic knife, has been widely used in medical treatment. Although it has significant therapeutic effects on many diseases, it still has many defects, and there are many postoperative complications, including secondary infection and skin damage. Therefore, you need to pay special attention before choosing this treatment method, and do a good job of postoperative care.

1. Disadvantages of HIFU Ultrasonic Knife

The complications of HIFU surgery vary depending on the surgical site. Overall, the incidence is still very low, and some complications can be avoided or alleviated through a series of preventive measures. Most of them can be recovered.

Possible complications mainly include: skin damage, secondary infection, damage to tissues and organs close to the treatment area, etc.

2. Introduction of HIFU Ultrasonic Scalpel

"HIFU knife" is also called "ultrasound focused knife", which is the translation of "high-intensity focused ultrasound tumor treatment system (High-intensity focused ultrasound)". The English abbreviation is "HIFU", which is a new technology that can kill tumors in the body without cutting the skin or puncturing. Some people also call it "non-invasive surgery." During treatment, only analgesics and sedatives are administered intravenously. During the treatment, the dosage of analgesics and sedatives is controlled so that the patient can always communicate with the doctor, reducing the risk of anesthesia-related complications and damage to adjacent organs.

Just like sunlight can be focused through a convex lens, ultrasound can also be focused and can safely penetrate the body. The ablation principle of the HIFU knife is to use these characteristics of ultrasound to focus low-energy ultrasound into the body, focusing the knife with sufficient intensity in the "focal" area to form an instantaneous high temperature of 65℃ to 100℃. At the same time, the inherent characteristics of ultrasound - cavitation effect, mechanical effect, etc., lead to tissue coagulative necrosis and destroy the tissue in the treatment area. The necrotic tissue may gradually be absorbed or turn into scar.

Since it takes some time for the tumor to shrink after HIFU ablation treatment, the change in volume cannot indicate the effectiveness of the ablation. Currently, the international evaluation of the effectiveness of ablation treatment is mainly based on checking whether there is blood supply in the tumor to determine whether the tumor is still active. The ideal ablation treatment effect should be manifested as a lack of blood supply to the tumor, that is, the tumor has been completely necrotic. Currently, the commonly used clinical examination methods include: magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), enhanced CT, ultrasound angiography, etc.