Abstract: Objective The aim of this study was to compare the clinical efficacy of transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE) and microwave ablation in the treatment of patients with cavernous hemangioma of liver (CHL). Methods 74 patients with CHL were recruited in the Department of General Intervention between January 2014 and April 2018, and 37 were treated by microwave ablation and another 37 were treated by TAE. All patients were followed-up for six months. Results There was no statistical difference as respect to the clinical efficacy between the two groups (86.5% vs. 75.7%, P>0.05); After treatment, serum levels of alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase in microwave ablation group were (47.9±5.7) U/L and (35.5±4.3) U/L, significantly lower than [(93.5±11.2) U/L and (61.3±5.8)U/L,P<0.05】in the TAE group; at 12 h, 24 h and 48 h after operation, the visual analogue score in the microwave ablation group were (2.8±0.5), (1.7±0.2) and (1.1±0.1), significantly lower than [(4.7±0.9), (2.6±0.8) and (1.8±0.3), respectively, P<0.05] in the TAE group; After treatment, there was no significant difference in the incidence of adverse reactions between the microwave ablation and the TAE-treated group (P>0.05). Conclusion The application of TAE and microwave ablation in the treatment of patients is efficacious, which has little side effects and lower incidence of postoperative pain.

Key words: Cavernous hemangioma of liver, Transcatheter arterial embolization, Microwave ablation, Efficacy