• Feng Yinglu, Ling Changquan, Zhai Xiaofeng, Li Bai, Zhu Dezeng, and Chen Zhe.
• The Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Chinghai, Hospital of the Second Military Medicine University, Shanghai, China.
• J Altern Complement Med. 2009 Feb 1; 15 (2): 175-81.

BackgroundCurrently, most therapies of postembolization syndrome following transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) aim directly at a single symptom, thus leading to limitations.ObjectivesTo seek for a systematic approach to prevent and treat the syndrome, we carried out this study to observe the effect of ginsenosides (GS) and dexamethasone (Dex) in alleviating the postembolization syndrome following TACE.MethodsIn the randomized, double-blinded and controlled trial, 120 patients with primary liver cancer were divided into 4 groups, with 30 patients in each group. The changes of clinical symptoms and laboratory tests before TACE and on 3 and 7 days after TACE were observed.ResultsThe results indicated that Dex combined with GS not only markedly decreased the occurrence ratio and duration of such symptoms as nausea, vomiting, and fever, but also significantly reduced levels of total bilirubin, glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase, and glutamic-pyruvic transaminase (AST) and improved the Child-Pugh stage of liver function as compared with single use of GS or Dex.ConclusionsIn conclusion, although single use of Dex or GS may improve some indices of adverse effects after TACE, the combination of Dex and GS can systematically prevent and treat the postembolization syndrome following TACE.

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