Comparison of the effectiveness of ultrasound-guided radiofrequency ablation and conventional open thyroidectomy in the treatment of benign thyroid nodules.

Objective: To compare the effectiveness of ultrasound (US)-guided radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and conventional open thyroidectomy (OT) in the treatment of benign thyroid nodules (BTN).

Methods: Medical records of 103 patients with BTN undergoing surgical treatment at The Affiliated Jiangning Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from March 2019 to March 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. Records show that 53 patients underwent US-guided RFA (observation group) and 50 patients underwent conventional OT (control group). Perioperative indicators (operation duration, intraoperative blood loss, postoperative hospital stay, incision length, and VAS score 12h and 24h after surgery), complications, thyroid function, and nodule recurrence in both groups were compared and analyzed.

Results: Perioperative indicators of patients in the observation group were better, and the visual analogue scale (VAS) scores at 12 and 24 hours after the surgery were lower than those of the control group (p<0.05). The incidence of complications in the observation group was significantly lower than that in the control group (p<0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in the preoperative levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), serum free thyroxine (FT4) and serum free triiodothyronine (FT3) between the two groups (p>0.05). The postoperative TSH levels in the observation group increased compared to the preoperative levels and were higher than those in the control group, while FT4 and FT3 levels decreased after surgery and were lower than those in the control group (p<0.05).

Conclusions: Compared to conventional open thyroidectomy, US-guided RFA is associated with less trauma, faster recovery, fewer complications, and less impact on thyroid function in the treatment of patients with BTN.