The effectiveness of Ultrasound-guided percutaneous ethanol injection for treating thyroid cysts compared to solid thyroid nodules

Thyroid nodules are common findings in clinical practice and the cystic lesions usually present with compressive symptoms or cosmetic problems. US-PEIT has been proposed as a minimally invasive substitute to surgery, with reported good results especially for benign cystic thyroid nodules. Nevertheless, its relative efficacy in cystic and solid thyroid nodules is not well explored. The purpose of this study is to test the effectiveness of US-PEIT in solid TNg and TCL. Sixty patients, 25-60 years of age, 30 with solid nodules and 30 with simple or complex cysts were enrolled. The participants were all clinically evaluated, ultrasonography and fine-needle aspiration biopsy was used to verify the benign nature of their pathology as well as preserved thyroid function. Twelve months follow-up US examinations was made in the follow up of patients underwent US-PEIT. There were significant differences between the two groups in swelling, local injection-site pain and reduction of volume (p = 0.001). The mean VRR of cystic nodules (68.24\%) was higher than that of solid nodules (62.95%), though this difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.33). In general, US-PEIT was proven to be more effective in decreasing the volume of thyroid cysts than solid thyroid nodules.