Treatment of lateral neck papillary thyroid carcinoma recurrence after selective lateral neck dissection

Background There is a paucity of data regarding optimal treatment options and outcomes for recurrent disease after lateral neck dissection in patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma. Methods Retrospective review of patients who underwent either percutaneous ethanol injection or surgery for first-time ipsilateral recurrences after ipsilateral lateral neck dissection for papillary thyroid carcinoma was performed. Results Follow-up data were available for 54 patients with recurrences in 57 lateral necks treated by either percutaneous ethanol injection ( n  = 32) or surgery ( n  = 25). Tumor burden at the time of lateral neck recurrence differed between the groups including the largest lymph node diameter (mean: 13 mm vs 18 mm, P P  = .04). Each modality alone achieved similar estimated rates of disease control at 36 months (75% for percutaneous ethanol injection and 74% for surgery, P  = .8) with similar number of reinterventions (1.8 for percutaneous ethanol injection, 1.6 for surgery, P  = .6). Conclusions Both ethanol ablation and surgery can achieve disease control in the majority of patients with recurrences after ipsilateral lateral neck dissection for papillary thyroid carcinoma. Ethanol ablation, when used for treatment of a single small lymph node, can result in outcomes that are similar to reoperative surgery for larger and multiple lymph nodes.