Clinical effect of ultrasound-guided microwave thermal ablation for treating benign thyroid nodules
Objective To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of ultrasound-guided microwave ablation technique in the treatment of benign thyroid nodules.Methods A total of 3985 nodules in 2913 patients with pathologically confirmed benign thyroid nodules during 2016-2023 were analyzed retrospectively.The one-time ablation success rate,incidence rate of postoperative complications and side effects were evaluated.For 1890 ablation nodules in 1449 patients with a median follow-up period of 12 months,the nodule volume re-duction rate (VRR),recurrence rate,re-ablation rate and technical effective ablation rate were evaluated in postoperative 1,3,6,12,24 months and more.Results The success rate of one-time ablation in all patients was 99.7% (3972/3985),the technical effective ablation rate was 88.6% (535/604),the recurrence rate was 3.1% (59/1890) and the re-ablation rate was 0.7% (13/1890).In the follow-up nodules,VRR in postopera-tive 1,3,6,12,24 months and more was (-17±430)% (n=727),(48±152)% (n=643),(72±38)% (n=573),(83±20)% (n=604),(88±18)% (n=279),respectively.In all patients,the incidence rate of major complications was 2.57%,the incidence rate of minor complications was 2.06%,and the incidence of side effects was 3.09%.Conclusion Ultrasound-guided microwave ablation of thyroid nodules is an effective and safe method for the treatment of benign thyroid nodules.