What to expect

Before treatment

• Review of scans and treatment plan in the outpatient clinic.
• Blood tests and sometimes cardiac assessment, depending on your age and medical history.
• Fasting instructions before anaesthesia - follow the written advice from the hospital.
• Medication plan - especially blood thinners and diabetes medicines - clarified by your team.

On the day

• Admission, consent check and anaesthetic pre-assessment.
• General anaesthesia is commonly used for IRE, but the type of anaesthesia is decided by your anaesthetist.
• Length of the procedure varies with tumour site and complexity.
• You recover in a monitored area before return to the ward or, in some cases, a short stay in a higher-dependency unit.

Recovery and follow-up

• Hospital stay length and pain management depend on the procedure and your baseline health.
• Follow-up imaging and tumour-marker or pathology review are scheduled according to your treating team's protocol.
• Return to work and exercise is individual - ask your team for a timeline.