Abstract
Successful thermal ablation using radiofrequency has been reported in various tumors including liver or kidney tumors. Nonsurgical minimally invasive ablative therapy such as radiofrequency ablation (RFA) has been reported to be a safe and efficient treatment option in managing symptomatic cold thyroid nodules or hyperfunctioning thyroid nodules. Pressure and cosmetic symptoms have been shown to be significantly improved both in the short and long terms after RFA. For hyperfunctioning thyroid nodules, RFA is indicated for whom surgery or radioiodine are not indicated or ineffective or for those who refuse surgery or radio-iodine. Improvement of thyroid function with decreased need for antithyroid medications has been reported. Complication rate is relatively low. By reviewing the current literature, we reported its efficacy and complications and compared the efficacy of RFA relative to other ablative options such as ethanol ablation and laser ablation.
Highlights
Thyroid nodules are commonly found and they pose one of the most common clinical problems for primary physicians and specialists
We described the basic principles, patient selection, procedure, efficacy, and complications of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and its efficacy relative to other ablation modalities
In the “moving shot technique” [15, 16], the target thyroid nodule is divided into multiple small conceptual ablation units and during the procedure, each conceptual unit is being ablated by the moving ablation electrode tip
Summary
Thyroid nodules are commonly found and they pose one of the most common clinical problems for primary physicians and specialists. Nonsurgical, minimally invasive modalities, like ethanol ablation and laser ablation, have been reported to be an effective option in treating thyroid nodules [12, 13, 25, 29,30,31,32,33]. Since the first reported series in 2006 [36], there had been numerous studies showing its efficacy and safety in treating benign cold and hyperfunctioning thyroid nodules [5, 11, 14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24]. We described the basic principles, patient selection, procedure, efficacy, and complications of RFA and its efficacy relative to other ablation modalities
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