Chinese Medical Journal (Jan 2017)

Complications Following Radiofrequency Ablation of Benign Thyroid Nodules: A Systematic Review

  • Jin-Fen Wang,
  • Tao Wu,
  • Kun-Peng Hu,
  • Wen Xu,
  • Bo-Wen Zheng,
  • Ge Tong,
  • Zhi-Cheng Yao,
  • Bo Liu,
  • Jie Ren

DOI
https://doi.org/10.4103/0366-6999.206347
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 130, no. 11
pp. 1361 – 1370

Abstract

Read online

Objective: This systematic review examined whether radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a safe treatment modality for benign thyroid nodules (BTNs). Data Sources: PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library database were searched for articles that (a) targeted human beings and (b) had a study population with BTNs that were confirmed by fine-needle aspiration cytology and/or core needle biopsy. Study Selection: Thirty-two studies relating to 3409 patients were included in this systematic review. Results: Based on literatures, no deaths were associated with the procedure, serious complications were rare, and RFA appears to be a safe and well-tolerated treatment modality. However, a broad spectrum of complications offers insights into some undesirable complications, such as track needle seeding and Horner syndrome. Conclusions: RFA appears to be a safe and well-tolerated treatment modality for BTNs. More research is needed to characterize the complications of RFA for thyroid nodules.

Keywords