To investigate the surgical guidance of lymphatic tracer for detecting cN0 thyroid micropapillary carcinoma (PTMC) and its effect on warning of recurrence risk.

A total of 106 patients with cN0 PTMC who underwent surgery in the Fourth Hospital of Qinhuangdao from January 2018 to December 2018 were enrolled. According to random number table method, the patients were divided into regular group (n=53) and the tracking group (n=53), lymphatic tracer was used in the tracking group for intraoperative lymph node dissection, the regular group did not use lymphatic tracer. The factors associated with lymph node metastasis, postoperative complications, and relationship between recurrence and lymphatic tracer application were analyzed.Spss19.0 software was used for analysis, the average number of lymph node resection and metastasis (±s) was compared with independent t-test was used; postoperative complications were compared with χ² test; single factor analysis of variance and multivariate logistic regression analysis were used; the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05).

The average number of lymph node resection and lymph node metastasis in the tracer group was significantly higher than that in the regular group (P<0.05), but the cases of lymph node metastasis had no significantly difference (P>0.05). The results showed that age ≥ 45 years old, tumor size ≥ 0.5cm and tumor breaking through the capsule were independent factors affecting lymph node metastasis of cN0 thyroid micro papillary carcinoma (P<0.05). Postoperative hypocalcemia was compared between the two groups (3.77% vs. 16.98%), and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05) .There was no recurrence in the tracking group and 1 patient in the regular group relapsed.

Lymphatic tracer can improve the detection rate of lymph nodes in patients with PTMC at cN0 stage, and age, tumor size and whether the tumor breaks through the capsule are independent factors affecting the lymph node metastasis in patients with PTMC at cN0 stage.