Abstract: Objective  To explore the curative effect of microwave ablation for patients with benign thyroid nodules and its effect on their immune function.
Methods  A total of 100 patients with thyroid nodules were selected and randomly divided into two groups according to the random number table. The 50 cases treated with microwave ablation were set as the observation group, whereas the 50 cases who had received conventional thyroidectomy as the control group. The surgical Results  , postoperative complications and postoperative 30 d T lymphocyte subsets in the two groups were compared.
Results  The levels of CD4+, CD8+ and CD4+ /CD8+ in the observation group did not change significantly. The levels of CD4+, CD4+ /CD8+ in the control group decreased first and then increased, while the level of CD8+ increased first and then decreased. The interaction between groups, time points and between groups had statistical significance(P＜0.05). There was no significant difference in nodule regression rate between the observation group and the control group 12 months after operation(P＞0.05). The operation time and hospitalization time of the observation group were shorter than those of the control group, and the intraoperative blood loss was less than that of the control group (P＜0.01). The total complication rate of the observation group was lower than that of the control group(P＜0.01).
Conclusion  For patients with thyroid nodules, microwave ablation is safe and reliable and is with more significant effects than conventional thyroidectomy, which produces less trauma and incurs less postoperative blood loss and complications, shorten the duration of the operation and improve the patients' immune function.

Key words: thyroid nodule； microwave ablation, immune function