Ablation of Thyroid Nodule

• Thyroid nodules are common are seen in upto 50% of adult population by the age of 60. Thyroid nodules are often benign, but sometimes they grow large enough to cause symptoms by pressing on the structures in the neck and can lead to difficulty in swallowing or breathing. Traditionally, patients have had to undergo surgery to remove thyroid, either partially or completely for the treatment of thyroid nodules. Now there’s an effective alternative to surgery: radiofrequency/microwave ablation, a treatment that uses heat to shrink nodules from the inside. The treatment requires no surgery, scarring, or lifelong hormone therapy.
• Microwave / RFA for thyroid nodules is performed by inserting a needle-like probe into the thyroid nodule. The tip of the needle heats up, destroying the nodule from the inside, causing it to shrink. The procedure was done under local anaesthesia.
• Any patient with symptoms or cosmetic issues caused by a growing nodule, and those who have a toxic nodule (i.e. a nodule that makes too much thyroid hormone). Patients who cannot safely have surgery, such as those who cannot go under anaesthesia, may also consider this treatment.

Benefits of RFA include:

• No surgery, which means you get to keep your thyroid.
• No need to take thyroid hormone supplements, since the thyroid – a small gland in the neck that makes hormones to control your metabolism – stays intact.
• No scarring.
• No need for hospitalisation, it is a daycare procedure.
• No need for general anaesthesia.