Laser Ablation

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Laser is a beam of light that is amplified at a specific wavelength. Today, it is widely used in various fields, including medicine and engineering. When laser light is delivered to tissue through a fiber, it destroys cells with the high heat it generates. This property is utilized in medicine for the treatment of vascular malformations and varicose veins, as well as for the ablation of tumors in organs such as the liver, prostate, and breast.

Laser ablation for the treatment of thyroid nodules was first reported by Dossing in 2002. A year later, the same researcher successfully treated a thyroid nodule that caused hyperthyroidism with laser ablation, resulting in the normalization of the patient’s thyroid hormone levels. Since then, laser ablation has been successfully used for the treatment of both cold and hot thyroid nodules up to the present day.

How is it performed?

After visualizing the nodule to be ablated with thyroid ultrasound, local anesthesia is applied to numb the site of intervention. Then, a fine needle is inserted into the nodule, and a laser fiber is sent through this needle into the nodule. Once the laser device is activated, the needle and the fiber are directed to various regions of the nodule, ensuring that the laser affects the entire nodule. The areas heated by the laser appear white on the ultrasound. After the procedure is completed, the needle and laser fiber are withdrawn, and the patient is discharged after a few hours of observation.

In our female patient, who has a single large nodule measuring 38x24x27 mm in the right lobe of the thyroid causing hyperthyroidism, ultrasound-guided laser ablation is applied to the nodule. One year later, the patient’s hormone levels had normalized, and ultrasound showed a reduction of more than 85% in the nodule’s volume.