Abstract: Objective To investigate the impact of water isolation technology in percutaneous microwave ablation (MWA) in the treatment for primary liver cancer (PLC) on the 3-year prognosis of patients.Methods One hundred and eight PLC patients admitted to our hospital from July 2019 to 2020 were included and divided into 2 groups according to different treatment methods. The MWA group (n=55) was treated with MWA, and the water isolation + MWA group (n=53) was treated with MWA combined with water isolation technology. The clinical efficacy and postoperative complications were compared between 2 groups. The levels of serum alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, carbohydrate antigen 242 and carbohydrate antigen 19-9 were compared before and after treatment in 2 groups. Moreover, the patients were followed up for 3 years after discharging from hospital, and the 3-year survival rate of the 2 groups was calculated.Results The effective rate and disease control rate of the water isolation + MWA group were significantly higher than those of the MWA group (85.45%, 94.55% vs 69.81%, 81.13%, P<0.05). The serum indexes of the water isolation + MWA group after treatment were significantly lower than those before treatment (P<0.05), and significantly lower than those after treatment in the MWA group (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of complications between the 2 groups (7.27% vs 11.32%, P>0.05). During the 3-year follow-up period, 6 patients in the water isolation + MWA group and 5 patients in the MWA group were lost. The 3-year survival rate of the water isolation + MWA group and the MWA group were 67.35% (33/49) and 41.67% (20/48), respectively, and there were statistical differences between 2 groups (P=0.004).Conclusion Water isolation technology in MWA treatment can improve clinical treatment efficacy and long-term prognosis of PLC patients.

Key words: Primary liver cancer, Percutaneous microwave ablation, Water isolation, Curative effect, Prognosis