To study the synergistic effect of focused ultrasound (FUS) combined with absolute ethanol (EA) and lauromacrogol (LM) in the ablation of rabbit liver.

Forty healthy New Zealand white rabbits were randomly divided into five groups: EA group, LM group, FUS plus EA (FUS+ EA) group, FUS plus LM (FUS+ LM) group, and FUS alone group. The right lobe of the normal liver of rabbits was then ablated. Forty-eight hours later, contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) was performed on the ablated lobes, and the size, shape, and boundary of the ablation lesions were observed. Liver tissue was obtained after angiography, and the volume of liver ablation was measured by drainage method. Kruskal-Walis H rank sum test was used to compare the ablation volumes among the experimental rabbits in each group, and between the groups.

The ablation effects among different groups were statistically different (H=31.05, P<0.001). The FUS+ EA group, FUS+ LM group, EA group, and LM group achieved ablation of the normal rabbit liver to varying degrees, while the FUS group did not produce any microvascular or pathological damage. Further pairwise comparison showed that the FUS+ EA group had the most significant liver ablation (Z=-2.80, -2.82, 2.84, and 5.57, respectively, P<0.05). There was no significant difference between the FUS+ LM group, EA group, LM group, and FUS group (P>0.05).

FUS plus EA can produce significant synergistic effects and effectively enhance the ablation effect of EA alone on the rabbit liver in vivo. No synergistic effect is generated by FUS plus lauromacrogol.