Comparative study on operative trauma between microwave ablation and surgical treatment for papillary thyroid microcarcinoma

Table 1 General clinical data between the two groups of patients

Group	Case	Age (yr)	Gender		Maximum diameter of nodule (mm)
			Male	Female
Surgery group	46	46.2 ± 11.5	16	30	8.13 ± 1.22
Microwave	41	45.8 ± 10.2	12	29	8.87 ± 1.01
Ablation group
t/χ2-value		0.171	0.302		-3.061
P-value		0.865	0.583		0.003

Table 2 Clinical indicators between the two groups (mean ± SD)

Group	Case	Length of hospital stay (d)	Blood loss volume (mL)	Surgical time (min)
Surgery group	46	4.18 ± 0.55	33.12 ± 5.07	78.81 ± 12.19
Microwave	41	1.77 ± 0.71	10.32 ± 1.65	25.02 ± 4.14
Ablation group
t-value		17.832	27.511	26.892
P-value		0	0	0

Table 3 Comparison of postoperative serum markers (mean ± SD)

Group	Case	CRP (mg/L)	IL-6 (ng/L)	TNF-α (ng/L)
Surgery group	46	12.05 ± 2.57	14.44 ± 4.61	51.39 ± 2.86
Microwave	41	0.71 ± 0.39	4.02 ± 1.78	43.55 ± 5.03
Ablation group
t-value		27.951	13.591	9.059
P-value		0	0	0

CRP: C-reactive protein; IL-6: Interleukin-6; TNF-α: Tumor necrosis factor-α.

Table 4 Free triiodothyronine levels between the two groups before, 7 d after, and 30 d after treatment

FT3 (pmol/L)	Preoperative	7 d after surgery	30 d after surgery
Microwave ablation group	4.28 ± 0.49	4.25 ± 0.45	4.22 ± 0.53
Surgery group	4.33 ± 0.78	3.09 ± 0.64	2.78 ± 0.84

F_intra-group = 6.435, P_intra-group = 0.000; F_inter-group = 8.546, P_inter-group = 0.000; F_interaction = 45.291, P_interaction = 0.000. FT3: Free triiodothyronine.

Table 5 Comparison of free thyroxin levels before, 7 d after, and 30 d after treatment

FT4 (pmol/L)	Preoperative	7 d after surgery	30 d after surgery
Microwave ablation group	12.33 ± 1.51	12.87 ± 2.66	12.67 ± 2.83
Surgery group	12.72 ± 1.68	10.77 ± 2.25	9.45 ± 2.07

F_intra-group = 0.866, P_intra-group = 0.221; F_inter-group = 9.257, P_inter-group = 0.000; F_interaction = 31.378, P_interaction = 0.000. FT4: Free thyroxin.

Table 6 Thyroid stimulating hormone levels between the two groups before, 7 d after, and 30 d after treatment

TSH (mIU/L)	Preoperative	7 d after surgery	30 d after surgery
Microwave ablation group	2.11 ± 1.47	1.42 ± 0.91	1.08 ± 1.35
Surgery group	2.09 ± 1.01	13.44 ± 2.37	18.43 ± 2.67

F_intra-group = 55.165, P_intra-group = 0.221; F_inter-group = 67.234, P_inter-group = 0.000; F_interaction = 75.443, P_interaction = 0.000. TSH: Thyroid stimulating hormone.

Table 7 Postoperative complications in patients

Group	Microwave ablation group (n = 41)	Surgery group (n = 46)	χ2	P
Pharyngeal discomfort	0	1	1.508	0.219
Hoarseness	1	2
Pain	0	1
parathyroid injury	0	0
Incision infection	0	1
Cough after drinking water	1	2
Incidence of complications	4.9%	15.2%