Efficacy of dexamethasone and N-acetylcysteine combination in preventing post-embolization syndrome after transarterial chemoembolization in hepatocellular carcinoma

Table 3 Univariate and multivariate analyses of patients with post-embolization syndrome and liver decompensation after conventional transarterial chemoembolization

Parameter	PES after cTACE						Liver decompensation after cTACE
	Crude OR	95%CI	P value	aOR	95%CI	P value	Crude OR	95%CI	P value	aOR	95%CI	P value
NAC + DEXA	0.02	0-0.06	< 0.01	0.04	0.01-0.2	< 0.01	0	0-1	1.00	0	0-1	1.00
Size + number up to 12	1.09	1-1.19	0.04	1.08	0.92-1.27	0.33	0.99	0.84-1.16	0.88	-	-	-
AST rise > 20 folds in 48 h	1.51	1.09-2.09	0.01	1.35	0.72-2.52	0.35	1.7	0.95-3.03	0.07	1.3	0.56-3.02	0.54
ALBI change > 0.5	7.58	1.96-29.36	0.003	3.03	0.39-23.67	0.29	122.52	5.6-2681	0.002	42.77	1.01-1810	0.049
Total bilirubin rising > 1.5 folds	3.83	1.8-8.14	< 0.01	1.43	0.42-4.87	0.57	2.79	1.23-6.31	0.01	1.46	0.52-4.1	0.48
South west oncology grading > 4	1	0-1	0.99	-	-	-	1.43	1.04-1.96	0.03	0.94	0.51-1.76	0.86

ALBI: Albumin-bilirubin; aOR: Adjusted odds ratio; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; CI: Confidence interval; DEXA: Dexamethasone; NAC: N-acetylcysteine; OR: Odds ratio; PES: Post-embolization syndrome; TACE: Transarterial chemoembolization.