Introduction: fine needle aspiration (FNA) for cytology is one of the most common investigational modality utilized by head and neck surgeon as it has a high sensitivity and specificity all through the literature. In patients with thyroid nodule, FNA is almost a must, and it should be included in the surgeon decision. Herein we studied the utilization of FNA and its reliability in thyroidectomy cases.
Method: a retrospective study. We reviewed the records of 214 patients who underwent total or hemi thyroidectomy between 2010 to 2016. We reviewed the use of FNA and compared it with final histopathology results.
Results: out of the 214 patients, 183 patients met the inclusion criteria. 80.3% females and 19.7% males. 42.1% operated by ENT, and 57.9% by GS. 37.2% have no FNA diagnosis pre operatively. Of them 22% came to be malignant tumor, and 78% benign. 65% of those who were operated without FNA diagnosis were operated by GS and 35% by ENT. FNA found to be highly specific and sensitive, especially for malignant tumors where specificity was 100% and sensitivity was 65.2%.
Conclusion: FNA showed a high sensitivity and specificity for thyroid nodule. We recommend to distribute a memo to mandate doing FNA for any patient going for thyroid surgery.
