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    Methods

    NICE identified studies and reviews relevant to endoscopic bipolar radiofrequency ablation for malignant biliary obstruction from the medical literature. The following databases were searched between the date they started to 12 December 2023: MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library and other databases. Trial registries and the internet were also searched (see the literature search strategy). Relevant published studies identified during consultation or resolution that are published after this date may also be considered for inclusion.

    The following inclusion criteria were applied to the abstracts identified by the literature search.

    • Publication type: clinical studies were included with emphasis on identifying good quality studies. Abstracts were excluded if they did not report clinical outcomes. Reviews, editorials, and laboratory or animal studies, were also excluded and so were conference abstracts, because of the difficulty of appraising study methodology, unless they reported specific adverse events that not available in the published literature.

    • People with malignant biliary obstruction or stricture.

    • Intervention or test: endoscopic bipolar RFA (ERCP-directed RFA; primary or secondary RFA).

    • Outcome: articles were retrieved if the abstract contained information relevant to the safety, efficacy, or both.

    If selection criteria could not be determined from the abstracts the full paper was retrieved.

    Potentially relevant studies not included in the main evidence summary are listed in the section on other relevant studies.

    Find out more about how NICE selects the evidence for the committee.

    Table 4 literature search strategy

    Databases

    Date searched

    Version/files

    MEDLINE ALL (Ovid)

    12/12/2023

    MEDLINE ALL 1946 to December 07, 2023

    EMBASE (Ovid)

    12/12/2023

    EMBASE 1974 to 2023 December 11 30

    EMBASE Conference (Ovid)

    12/12/2023

    EMBASE 1974 to 2023 December 11 30

    Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews – CDSR (Cochrane Library)

    12/12/2023

    Issue 11 of 12, November 2023

    Cochrane Central Database of Controlled Trials – CENTRAL (Cochrane Library)

    12/12/2023

    Issue 12 of 12, December 2023

    International HTA database (INAHTA)

    12/12/2023

    -

    Trial sources searched

    • Clinicaltrials.gov

    • ISRCTN

    • WHO International Clinical Trials Registry

    Websites searched

    • National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)

    • NHS England

    • Food and Drug Administration (FDA) - MAUDE database

    • Australian Safety and Efficacy Register of New Interventional Procedures – Surgical (ASERNIP – S)

    • Australia and New Zealand Horizon Scanning Network (ANZHSN)

    • General internet search

    The following search strategy was used to identify papers in MEDLINE. A similar strategy was used to identify papers in other databases.

    MEDLINE search strategy

    1 *Endoscopy/mt [Methods]

    2 *Endoscopes/

    3 (endoscop* or scope* or probe*).tw.

    4 endobiliary.tw.

    5 or/1-4

    6 *Radiofrequency Ablation/

    7 *Catheter Ablation/

    8 ((catheter* or radiofrequen* or radio frequen* or radio-frequen* or rf) adj4 ablat*).tw.

    9 (Radio* adj4 frequen* adj4 ablat*).tw.

    10 RFA.tw.

    11 or/6-10

    12 5 and 11

    13 Pancreatic Neoplasms/

    14 (pancrea* adj4 (Neoplasm* or Cancer* or Carcinom* or Adenocarcinom* or Tumour* or Tumor* or Malignan* or Lump* or Masses* or Sarcom* or Metastas*)).tw.

    15 exp Bile Duct Neoplasms/

    16 (bile duct adj4 (Neoplasm* or Cancer* or Carcinom* or Adenocarcinom* or Tumour* or Tumor* or Malignan* or Lump* or Masses* or Sarcom* or Metastas* or stricture* or obstruct*)).tw.

    17 Biliary Tract Diseases/

    18 (Biliary adj4 (Neoplasm* or Cancer* or Carcinom* or Adenocarcinom* or Tumour* or Tumor* or Malignan* or Lump* or Masses* or Sarcom* or Metastas* or stricture* or obstruct*)).tw.

    19 Cholangiocarcinoma/

    20 Cholangiocarcinom*.tw.

    21 CCA.tw.

    22 exp Cholestasis/

    23 cholestas*.tw.

    24 or/13-23

    25 12 and 24

    26 (EndoHBP or ELRA).tw.

    27 25 or 26

    28 Animals/ not Humans/

    29 27 not 28

    30 limit 29 to ed=20230531-20231231

    31 limit 30 to english language