Table 1. List of studies utilizing radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for cholangiocarcinoma (CCA).

Study	Year	Type	N	Technique	Location	# of sessions (mean)	TB before	TB after	Stent type	Stent occlusion	Patency of stent (days, median)	Survival	Adverse events
Dolak et al. (23)	2014	Retrospective cohort	58	Percutaneous and endoscopic	Bismuth I [5]; II [1]; III [6]; IV [33]; distal CBD [5]	1.44	–	–	Plastic [19]; SEMS [35]; no stent [4]	21	170	10.6 months (median)	Cholangitis [5]; hemobilia [3]; sepsis [2]; gallbladder empyema [1]; hepatic coma [1]; hepatic infarction [1]. 2 deaths (cholangiosepsis)
Tal et al. (24)	2014	Retrospective cohort	12	Endoscopic	Intrahepatic CCA [2]; Bismuth IV [7]	1.58	–	–	Plastic (all)	–	–	6.4 months (median)	Hemobilia [3]; cholangitis [3]. 2 deaths (hemorrhagic shock)
Wu et al. (25)	2017	Retrospective case control	71	Percutaneous [35], stenting alone [36]	Distal	1	–	–	Covered SEMS [7]; uncovered SEMS [28]	Uncovered SEMS [10]; covered SEMS [5]	Uncovered SEMS [241]; covered SEMS [212]	Uncovered SEMS (245 days, median); covered SEMS (278 days, median)	Abdominal pain [27]
Wang et al. (26)	2016	Retrospective cohort	12	Endoscopic	Bismuth I [5]; IIIa [1]; IV [3]	1.66	297.5	134.3	Plastic [7]; SEMs [4]	2	125	7.7 months (median)	Fever [2]; pancreatitis [1]
Wang et al. (27)	2016	Retrospective cohort	9	Percutaneous	Bismuth IIIa [1]; IIIb [1]; IV [7]	1	DB 87.88±18.99	DB 62.06±17.21	SEMS
Laquière et al. (28)	2016	Case series	12	Endoscopic	Bismuth I [4]; II [3]; III [2]; IV [3]		1	100	5.3 months (median)	Abdominal pain [3]; cholangitis [4]
Li et al. (29)	2015	Retrospective cohort	26	Percutaneous [12], stenting alone [14]	–	1.63	–	–	Used plastic and metallic (does not quantify)	3	–	12.3 months (mean)	Sepsis [1]; early stent migration [1]; late stent migration [1]; cholangitis [4]
Sharaiha et al. (30)	2015	Retrospective cohort	69	Endoscopic	Hilar [23]; proximal CBD [7]; distal CBD [7]; Bismuth I [4]; Bismuth III [2]; Bismuth IV [5]	–	287.2±123.5	154.3±76.1	SEMS (all)	RFA group [0]; control group [3]	RFA group 100%; control group 78% at 90 days	–	Cholangitis [3]
Wu et al. (31)	2015	Retrospective cohort	47	Percutaneous	Hilar [7], distal CBD [16]	1.3 (0.65)	–	–	Plastic [49]; metallic [20]	3	95% at 30 days	17.7 months (mean)	Pancreatitis [1]; cholecystitis [2]; hemobilia [1]; abdominal pain [3]
Strand et al. (32)	2014	Retrospective cohort	16	Endoscopic	–	1.38	239.9±99.1	137.2±66.7	SEMS [47]	11	149	25 weeks 6 days (median)	Abdominal pain [23]; intra-abdominal hemorrhage [1]
Sharaiha et al. (33)	2014	Retrospective cohort	64	Endoscopic	–	1.19 (0.4)	–	–	Plastic [3]; fully covered SEMS [3]; uncovered SEMS [11]	0.06 (0.10) [mean (SD)]	–	9.6 months (median)	Stent migration (0.02); cholangitis (0.13); hepatic abscess (0.02); need for percutaneous drainage (0.01)
Mizandari et al. (34)	2013	Retrospective cohort	39	Percutaneous	Bismuth I [5]; II [1]; IIIa [4]; IV [7]	1	–	–	Covered SEMS [8]; uncovered SEMS [7]; plastic [11]	0	100% at 30 days	5.9 months (median)	Abdominal pain [5]; pancreatitis [1] cholecystitis [1]
Alis et al. (35)	2013	Retrospective cohort	10	Endoscopic	Bismuth I [4]; Distal CBD [6]	1	129±61	52±32	SEMS (all)	1	84.5	3 months (median)	Abdominal pain [15]
Figueroa-Barojas et al. (36)	2013	Retrospective cohort	20	Endoscopic	–	1	–	–	Covered SEMS (all)	0	270	–	Pancreatitis [2]
Steel et al. (37)	2011	Prospective cohort	22	Endoscopic	–	1.25	–	–	Plastic [6]; covered SEMS [13]; uncovered SEMS [1]	0	100% at 30 days	–	Abdominal pain [5]; Pancreatitis [1]; cholecystitis [1]

TB, total bilirubin; CBD, common bile duct; SEMS, self-expanding metallic stent; DB, direct bilirubin; SD, standard deviation.