The following is instructive, informative and beneficial for patients who are about to undergo or have undergone thermal ablation of thyroid nodules.
I. Pre-operative tips
Take a shower and shampoo the day before the operation, and change your clothes and socks to soft, loose, lapel tops. Women should try to avoid wearing dresses, tight clothes, jewelry and bras. Inpatients should change into standard surgical gowns.
2. refrain from drinking alcohol two days before and on the day of surgery, and avoid eating irritating smelling foods such as garlic, green onions and onions.
3. Fasting and abstaining from drinking from three hours before surgery. For abnormal blood sugar and blood pressure, please eat and take medication as usual three hours before surgery. Please defecate and urinate in advance.
4. Sterilized towel sheets covering the head and face during surgery may make some patients feel uncomfortable and nervous, so please conduct head covering training in advance to relax and adapt to the surgical environment.
5. If you have symptoms such as cough, runny nose or phlegm, please seek medical treatment in advance and inform the surgeon.
II. Intraoperative Tips
1. Relax your body, lie face up, fully unbutton your clothes and fully expose your neck and chest as required by the surgery.
2. There will be mild stinging pain when anesthetic is injected; toothache, headache, earache, or neck pain at the back of the neck may occur during radiofrequency and microwave ablation treatment, but usually these pains are tolerable.
3. there may be swelling and pain during the injection of isolation fluid, but it will not affect breathing.
4. Intraoperative distraction and relaxation should be tried to help reduce swallowing. Swallowing is a reflex activity that is difficult to be controlled, and large and rapid swallowing should be avoided as much as possible
5. If intolerable pain or uncontrollable coughing or swallowing occurs during the operation, please gently wiggle your fingers to signal the surgeon to suspend the operation in time.
III. Postoperative Tips
1. Do not drink or eat for 2-3 hours after surgery, please try to rest and keep the ice pack compression on the neck.
2. local pain can last for 3-6 hours and can be tolerated.
3. keep the skin puncture site dry and the dressing can be removed after 12-24 hours.
4. eat and live as usual, unless specifically ordered by the doctor.
5. Follow up regularly and according to the doctor’s instructions. If there is any abnormal discomfort, you can contact the doctor or come to the hospital for follow-up at any time.
6. If you find any variation in 5~7 indicators of thyroid function (blood test), do not take medication on your own first, but consult your treating doctor in time to get reasonable explanation. After thyroid cancer ablation, you need to take eugenol, the purpose of which is to lower the thyroid stimulating hormone in the blood to between 0.1~0.01, which is inevitably accompanied by the elevation of thyroid hormones (T3, T4), so there is no need to panic.