Abstract
The long-term efficacy of ultrasound-guided radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) for patients with gallbladder polyps remains uncertain. This study aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of RFA and LC in patients with gallbladder polyps. In this retrospective study, we included 160 patients who underwent treatment for gallbladder polyps at two Chinese medical centres from May 2021 to May 2023, with 79 cases in the RFA group and 81 cases in the laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) group. The lesion disappearance rates of RFA group were 83.5%, 89.9%, 94.9%, 97.5% and 100.0% at 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months and 1-year after ablation, respectively. In the RFA group, no statistically significant difference was observed in the diameter of non-target lesions between the preoperative measurements and those taken at any postoperative follow-up (all P > 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in gallbladder contraction rate and gallbladder wall thickness before and after ablation (P > 0.05). Postoperative ALT and AST levels were significantly higher, while TP levels were lower, in the LC group compared to the RFA group (all P < 0.05). The differences in hospital stay, operative time, postoperative anal exhaust time, postoperative eating time, and NRS scores on the first postoperative day were also statistically significant (all P < 0.05). The incidence of complications and treatment costs between the two groups did not show statistically significant differences (P > 0.05). Compared with the RFA group, the LC group showed a higher incidence of abdominal pain, abdominal distension, diarrhea, bile reflux gastritis, and malabsorption at 1-year postoperatively (all P < 0.05). Sessile polyps were at higher risk for bile leakage than pedunculated polyps in the RFA group (P = 0.038). In conclusion, ultrasound-guided RFA of gallbladder polyps can effectively inactivate the polyps while preserving the gallbladder, representing a safe, effective, and feasible alternative to LC.
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The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Funding
This work was financially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 82472009), National Science Foundation for Young Scientists of China (No. 82302208), Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province(BK20241857), Medical Research Project of Jiangsu Provincial Health Commission (No. H2023141), Basic Research Special Fund Project of Zhenjiang City (JC2004028), Social Development Program of Zhenjiang City (SH2023015), Social Development Program of Zhenjiang City (SH2023019), Key Program of Medical Education Collaborative Innovation Fund of Jiangsu University( JDY2023006), Medical Education Collaborative Innovation Fund of Jiangsu University( JDYY2023012) and The Sixth Phase “169 Project” Scientific Research Project of Zhenjiang City (YLJ202104).
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Conceptualization: H.Z., G.D., B.C.; Data curation: H.Z., Y.C.; Formal analysis: H.Z., G.D., Z.Z., Y.C., B.C.; F unding acquisition: B.C., Z.Z., S.Z., X.W.; Investigation: H.Z., B.C., Y.C.; Methodology: H.Z., B.C.; Project administration: H.Z., B.C.; Visualization: H.Z., B.C.; Writing-original draft: H.Z.; Writing-review & editing: H.Z., Z.Z., Y.C., B.C.; and all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
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Due to the retrospective nature of the study, (Institutional Review Board of the Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University and Institutional Review Board of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University) waived the need of obtaining informed consent.
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Zhao, H., Dong, G., Zhang, Z. et al. Efficacy and safety of ultrasound-guided radiofrequency ablation versus laparoscopic cholecystectomy in gallbladder polyps: a bicentric study. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-40927-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-40927-3
