Ice Ball Crack During CT-Guided Renal Cryoablation Using 1.5-mm-Diameter Cryoprobes

Ice ball fracture and massive hemorrhage are serious complications associated with renal cryoablation. When cracks occur in an ice ball, it is usually associated with adjacent renal parenchymal fracture, leading to massive hemorrhage. However, few studies have examined ice ball fracture under image-guided percutaneous renal cryoablation. We herein describe an 80-year-old male patient who had undergone CT-guided cryoablation for a left renal tumor using four cryoprobes (1.5 mm diameter each). Ice ball cracks were observed on CT images during cryoablation. However, there was no massive hemorrhage and further treatments were not necessary. This is the first report of ice ball cracks with a smaller diameter cryoprobe, which has not been considered to be associated with ice ball fracture.