Table 1.
Studies reviewed between 2008 and 2016
| Author/year | Study design | Patients (number of BTNs) | Baseline volume (ml) | Follow-up (months) | Complications (n)* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deandrea et al., 2008[10] | Prospective | 31 (33) | 27.7 | 6 | Pain (few); a sensation of heat; edema |
| Spiezia et al., 2009[15] | Retrospective | 94 (94) | 24.5 | 24 | A sensation of heat; pain (13); fever (5) |
| Baek et al., 2009[14] | Retrospective | 9 (9) | 14.98 | 6–17 | Pain and/or a sensation of heat; Subclinical hypothyroidism (1) |
| Shin et al., 2011[16] | Case report | 6 (1) | 22.53 | NA | Nodule rupture (6) |
| Kim, 2012[17] | Retrospective | 18 (18) | 4.2 | 6–12 | Pain (3); diffuse glandular hemorrhage (1) |
| Faggiano et al., 2012[18] | Prospective | 20 (20) | 13.3 | 12 | A sensation of heat; |
| Baek et al., 2012[19] | Retrospective | 1459 (1543) | NA | NA | Pain (38); hematoma (15); vomiting (9); skin burn (3); voice change (15); vasovagal reaction (5); nodule rupture (3); hypothyroidism (1); brachial plexus nerve injury (1) |
| Sung et al., 2013[20] | RCT | 25 (25) | 9.3 | 6 | Pain (21) |
| Sui et al., 2013[21] | Retrospective | 78 (108) | 1.17 | 18 | Voice change (2); pain (8) |
| Bernardi et al., 2014[22] | Retrospective | 37 (37) | 12.4 | 12 | Pain (2); late-onset, painless thyroiditis with transient thyrotoxicosis (1); voice change (1) |
| Yoon et al., 2014[23]† | Retrospective | 11 (11) | 17.1 | 11.4 (6–24) | Pain and a sensation of heat |
| Turtulici et al., 2014[24] | Retrospective | 45 (45) | 13.5 | 6 | Skin burn (1) |
| Lee et al., 2014[25] | Case report | 1 (1) | 13.6 | 48 | Needle track seeding |
| Baek et al., 2015[13] | RCT | 25 (25) | 8.6 | 6 | Pain (22) |
| Cesareo et al., 2015[26] | RCT | 42 (42) | 24.5 | 6 | Pain (9); voice change (3) |
| Valcavi et al.,2015[27] | Prospective | 40 (40) | 30 | 24 | Pain (7); bleeding (4); vasovagal reaction (1); cough (2); swelling (4); bruise (1); fever (1); nodule rupture (1); pseudocystic transformation (1) |
| Deandrea et al., 2015[28]† | RCT | 40 (40) | 13.9 versus 16.4 | 6 | A sensation of heat; pain (13); fever (5) |
| Che et al., 2015[29] | Retrospective | 200 (375) | 5.4 | 12 | Nodule rupture (1); hoarseness (1) |
| Sung et al., 2015[30] | Retrospective | 44 (44) | 18.5 | 19.9 (6–59) | Pain and/or a sensation of heat |
| Ugurlu et al., 2015[31] | Prospective | 33 (65) | 7.3 | 6 | Pain |
| Kohlhase et al., 2016[32] | Retrospective | 18 (20) | 8 | 3 | Latent hypothyroid functional state (1) |
| Korkusuz et al., 2016[33] | Prospective | 23 (24) | 18 | NA | Pain (23); hematoma (4) |
| Ahn et al., 2016[34] | Retrospective | 19 (22) | 14.3 | 3–6 | Pain and a sensation of heat |
| Aysan et al., 2016[35] | Retrospective | 100 (100) | 16.8 | 6–24 | Edema (1); hoarseness (1) |
| Li XL et al., 2016[36] | Prospective | 35 (35) | 8.81 | 6 | Pain and a sensation of heat |
| Oddo et al., 2017[37] | Case report | 1 (1) | 32.25 | 30 | Needle track seeding |
| Bernardi et al., 2016[38] | Case report | 1 (1) | 20.23 | NA | Skin burn (1) |
| Kim et al., 2016[39] | Retrospective | 746 | 18.5 | 45.7 (1–78) | Pain (5); vomiting (3); cough (8) voice change (6); edema (24); hypertension (10); muscle twitching (1); nodule rupture (3); Horner syndrome (1); hematoma (6); vasovagal reaction (6); transient hypothyroidism (1) |
| Zhao et al., 2016[40] | Retrospective | 54 (69) | 6.35 | 6 | Pain (2); hematoma (1) |
| Bernardi et al., 2016[41] | Prospective | 25 | 17.12 | 12 | Pain (1); voice change (1) |
| Yue et al., 2017[42] | Retrospective | 102 | 5.7 | 10.7 | Pain (102); hoarseness (2) |
| Zhang et al., 2016[43] | Retrospective | 27 (33) | 3.0 | 6–12 | Pain; hoarseness (1); hematoma |
*Complications of RFA were reported from different studies in detail; † Combination therapy consisting of ethanol and radiofrequency ablation. RFA: Radiofrequency ablation; RCT: Randomized controlled trial; NA: Not applicable.