Aim: Is to compare the short-term outcome of hepatic resection and radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in two groups of patients with a solitary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) less than 5 em in Childs A cirrhotic patients. Patients and methods: The study comprised 60 patients; 52 (86.7%) males and 8 (13.3%) females,  with  mean  age  45.2±9.6,  range  26-67  years.  The  patients  were randomized  into 2 groups: Resection group (n=28 patients) assigned to undergo hepatic resection and radiofrequency group (n= 32 patients) assigned to undergo RFA. The morbidity; hospital stay; overall survival; disease-free survival; psychological and physical welfare of the patients were assessed during the follow up period. Results:  There  was  non-significant  difference  (P >0.05)  in  both  groups  as  regards  the morbidity (21.4% in resection group versus 15.6% in RFA group).The mean hospital stay was 7±2.9 in resection group and 1±1.2 in RFA group; with a significant shorter stay (P<0.001) in  RFA group.  Patients  included  in  RFA group  showed  significantly  increased  scores  of psychological and physical welfare compared to resection group (P<0.001). Subgroup analysis showed non significant difference between both groups as regards the 2 years overall survival &  recurrence-free  survival in tumours  less than 3cm.On  the other  hand,  surgical resection was superior to RFA for 2 years overall survival & the recurrence-free survival in subgroup analyses for lesions > 3cm, <5cm. Conclusion: In patients with ChildA cirrhosis with solitaryHCC  >3cm, RFAprovided results with non-significant difference to surgical resection with the advantages of being less invasive, shorter hospital stay, and better quality of life. While in tumours between 3 and 5 em, surgical resection was superior to RFA having better overall survival and tumour-free recurrence