Multicenter Comparison of Thermal Ablation Versus Thyroid Lobectomy for Subcapsular Papillary Thyroid Microcarcinoma

Patients who underwent thermal ablation were performed in the outpatient clinic's operating room under local anesthesia. Thermal ablation was performed under real-time ultrasound-guided. The 18-G bipolar radiofrequency applicator with a 0.9 cm active tip (CelonProSurge micro 100-T09, Olympus Surgical Technologies Europe) , or a 16-G/17-G cooled microwave antenna with a 0.3 cm tip (ECO-100A1, YIGAO MWA system Co., Ltd; KY-2000, Kangyou Medical, Nanjing, China) was used during ablation.

Patients who underwent thyroid lobectomy were performed in the operating theater under general anesthesia. Lobectomy (or lobectomy plus isthmusectomy) with prophylactic central neck dissection were performed.