Abstract:Objective To investigate the safety and therapeutic effect of endoscopic intracavitary radiofrequency ablation combined with biliary stent implantation in treatment of advanced stage unresectable pancreatic cancer complicated with obstructive jaundice.Methods The clinical data of 46 patients with advanced pancreatic cancer complicated with obstructive jaundice who lost the opportunity of operation were retrospectively analyzed. The postoperative complications, regression level of jaundice, abdominal pain relief, median stent patency time and median survival time were compared between the radiofrequency group (n = 16, intracavitary radiofrequency ablation combined with stent placement) and the control group (n = 30, simple stent implantation placement).Results No serious complications such as perforation, bleeding, bile and pancreatic leakage occurred in both the two groups. There was no significant difference in the incidence of postoperative cholangitis and transient pancreatitis (P > 0.05). The serum levels of total bilirubin (TBIL) and direct bilirubin (DBIL) were (62.99±42.31) μmol/L and (50.89 ± 37.78) μmol/L in the radiofrequency group one week after operation, compared with the preoperative values of (181.51 ± 114.14) μmol/L and (156.90 ± 105.79) μmol/L, there were significantly decreased; There were (112.21 ± 84.27) μmol/L and (84.23 ± 70.01) μmol/L in the control group, compared with the preoperative values of (184.06 ± 130.00) μmol/L and (160.65 ± 119.93) μmol/L, there were significantly decreased, the degree of jaundice subsidence in radiofrequency group was more significant than that in control group (P < 0.05). The visual analogue scale (VAS) of the two groups one month after operation were lower than that before operation, and the effective rate of abdominal pain relief of radiofrequency group was significantly higher than that of control group (87.5% vs 26.7%, P < 0.05). The median survival time and median patency time of radiofrequency group were higher than those of control group (296 d vs 240 d and 241 d vs 188 d, P < 0.05).Conclusion For patients with advanced unresectable pancreatic cancer complicated with obstructive jaundice, intracavitary radiofrequency ablation combined with biliary stent implantation is more effective than simple stent implantation in reducing jaundice, alleviating patients' pain, prolonging the stent patency time and patients' survival time.