Science & Healthcare

Introduction. An analysis of the medical literature on minimally invasive treatment of benign tumors of the thyroid gland showed a lack of consensus among endocrinologists and surgeons for the treatment of cystic and solid thyroid nodules.

The aim of the study was to research the experience of using percutaneous ethanol injection therapy (PEI) in patients with benign thyroid neoplasms.

Materials and methods. We conducted a prospective cohort study. The study period was on average 10 ± 1.2 years for each participant. The work was started between May 1993 and June 2016, with a total of 974 patients with thyroid neoplasms. The total number of finally studied patients was 467.

The central tendencies for the continuous variables corresponding to the normal distribution are represented as a mean ± standard deviation. The categorical data are presented as absolute and relative numbers. For the non parametric quantitative data a difference between the groups was determined by calculating the chi-square test (χ²) for Friedman Test. P-score < 0,05 was assumed to be a critical for decision. The statistical analysis of the data was performed using the SPSS 20 program for Windows (IBM Ireland Limited Distribution of products, Ireland).

Results. In all patients a volume decrease in size, in patients with toxic adenoma, the size of the neoplasm decreased to 5.1 ml, in patients with cysts, the volume decrease was up to 0.2 ml, in patients with volume reduction adenoma was up to 2.6 cm3 and 2.2 cm3, as well as in patients with colloid nodular goiter, volume reduction was up to 1.0 cm3.

Conclusions: Percutaneous injection of ethanol is an effective treatment for both solid and cystic thyroid nodules. Taking into account the fact that PEI maintains normal quality of life indicators for a long period, without relapses, this method can be recommended for inclusion in standards of treatment of benign thyroid cysts.