Abstract

Background: With over 42 million people Indians affected with thyroid disorders, it becomes crucial to arrive at an accurate diagnosis pre-operatively for better patient care. The use of minimally invasive techniques like ultrasound (USG) and fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) has helped in the early diagnosis. Hence the study was conducted to look for the accuracy of these investigations in arriving at a correct pre-operative diagnosis.
Methods: A retrospective observational study conducted from December 2016 to December 2018, included 96 patients who underwent thyroidectomy at RajaRajeswari Medical College and Hospital, Bangalore.
The preoperative data were collected and the FNAC and USG were separately analysed to check for accuracy.
Results: Of the 96 patients analysed. The ultrasound had a sensitivity of 52.6% and a specificity of 74%. The FNAC on the other hand had a sensitivity of 73.7% and a specificity of 90.9%.
Conclusion: FNAC is a superior investigation in accurately diagnosing thyroid disorders pre-operatively. But the use of both the modalities together may yield a better outcome which has to be investigated further.

Key words: Thyroid, Fine Needle aspiration cytology, Ultrasound, pre-operative diagnosis