Figures & data
Table 1. Baseline patient characteristics.
Table 2. Efficacy of microwave ablation compared to surgery for the treatment of benign thyroid nodules.
Table 3. The changes in the nodule volumes before microwave ablation and at each follow-up period.
Figure 1. The volume reduction achieved by MWA did not affect thyroid function, which remained unchanged throughout the 12-month follow-up period. In contrast, the TSH level of the surgery group was significantly increased at 1 month, and was consistently higher than the baseline and MWA group during the 12-month.
Table 4. Definitions of SIR class and percentage incidence.
Table 5. Comparison of the complications and procedures condition of the MWA group and surgery group.
Figure 2. Compared to patients who underwent surgery, those who underwent MWA had better general health and mental health scores. Moreover, compared to the general population, patients in the surgery group had lower scores for general health and mental health, whereas patients in the MWA group did not differ with respect to SF-36 scores at 6 months.
Figure 3. The 12 months after treatment were not much different from the results in 6 months. The surgery group was slightly elevated on vitality, but still lower than the MWA score.
Table 6. The direct costs for microwave ablation versus surgery to treat benign thyroid nodules.