[Clinical and pathological characteristics analysis of 40 reoperation cases after thermal ablation treatment for...

To explore the clinical and pathological characteristics of reoperation cases after thermal ablation treatment for thyroid carcinoma, the restrospective analysis included 40 patients with thyroid cancer who underwent reoperation after thermal ablation treatment in the Department of Thyroid Surgery of the First Hospital of China Medical University from December 2014 to April 2025, with an average age of (48.3±12.9) years including 9 male patients. A total of 49 cancer foci underwent thermal ablation treatment. Before thermal ablation, fine-needle aspiration was performed in all 40 patients (49 cancer foci), but 31 patients (37 cancer foci) underwent thermal ablation without obtaining cytological pathology. The maximum diameter of the cancer foci before thermal ablation was (1.50±0.99) cm, with 29 cancer foci≥1 cm and 20 cancer foci <1 cm. Nineteen cancer foci were adjacent to the thyroid capsule. Postoperative pathology confirmed that 29 patients (33 cancer foci) still had residual cancer foci. The residual rate of lesions with a maximum diameter≥1 cm was higher than that of lesions with a maximum diameter<1 cm [79.3% (23/29) vs 50.0% (10/20), P=0.032]. The residual rate of cancer foci adjacent to the thyroid capsule was higher than that of those far from the thyroid capsule [89.5% (17/19) vs 53.3% (16/30), P=0.009)]. Three cases had occult multifocal cancer, and 14 patients had metastatic lymph nodes. One patient with follicular carcinoma had multiple bone metastases. The results of this study suggest that non-standard initial thermal ablation treatment may lead to residual cancer foci or metastatic lymph nodes. For patients that are eligible for surgery,thermal ablation should not be blindly promoted or overused as an initial treatment.