Thermal field management in thyroid ablation for papillary thyroid carcinoma: Advancing precision and patient-centered care

Table 1 Comparison of conventional thyroid ablation and thermal field management-governed ablation

Domain	Conventional thyroid ablation	TFM-governed ablation
Energy delivery	Continuous or static power settings	Staged power modulation with deliberate pacing and micro-pauses
Applicator control	Fixed orientation and depth	Dynamic repositioning and geometry adjustment to tailor ablation zone
Boundary protection	Occasional or ad-hoc hydrodissection	Structured hydrodissection with fascial-plane preservation
Risk awareness	Operator-dependent judgment	Explicit attention to RLN, esophagus, trachea during planning and delivery
Clinical outcomes	Variable rates of dysphonia and post-procedural pain	Reduced dysphonia (0.9% vs 6.5%) and fewer pain complaints (3.7% vs 9.7%)
Reproducibility	Highly dependent on operator skill	Codified doctrine allowing standardization across operators and centers

TFM: Thermal field management; RLN: Recurrent laryngeal nerve.