Table 2.

Comparison of nodule diameter, location and cytology between palpation-guided and ultrasound-guided thyroid fine-needle aspiration biopsies

	Palpation-guided	Ultrasound-guided	P-value
Nodule number (n)	202	184
Log(nodule diameter in mm)*	1.22 ± 0.16	1.22 ± 0.21	0.71
Right thyroid lobe (%)†	95 (47%)	76 (41%)	0.08
Left thyroid lobe (%)†	81 (40%)	93 (51%)	0.08
Isthmus (%)†	26 (13%)	15 (8%)	0.08
Malignant (%)‡	4 (2.0%)	5 (2.7%)	0.74
Benign (%)†	141 (69.8%)	147 (79.9%)	0.02
Indeterminate (%)†	2 (1.0%)	9 (4.9%)	0.02
Inadequate (%)†	55 (27.2%)	23 (12.5%)	0.0003

*mean and standard deviation are given and Students' t test is used in comparison †Categorical variables are expressed as percentages and chi-square test was used in comparison ‡Fisher's exact test was used in comparison