A Clinical Case of the Extensive Tissue Necrosis Due to Radiofrequency Ablation Applied on Malignant Melanoma

ABSTRACT

Radiofrequency ablation is an effective alternative for the treatment of many benign and malignant lesions. The hyperthermia caused by radiofrequency can induce the coagulation necrosis of tumor mass that is more sensitive to heat than normal tissue. It is getting more attention of physicians because of its safety, convenience and various procedure routes. So it has been applied to more and more various fields, recently. It has some complications including erythema, blisters and full thickness skin losses, and these complication that had been reported caused not so severe problems. But there is a potential risk of an unpredictable, extensive, and progressive tissue necrosis in radiofrequency ablation because it is difficult to define the extent of thermal damage precisely. Authors has experienced a clinical case of progressive, wide and deep tissue necrosis due to radiofrequency ablation applied to metastatic malignant melanoma in the right groin region. We performed debridement carefully for the necrotic tissue just above femoral vessels and the sartorius muscle flap procedure to fill the defect. Radiofrequency ablation should be performed with extreme caution not to damage surrounding tissue, especially in the region close to skin and large vessels.