Clinical Analysis of Cervical Lymph Node Metastasis Risk Factors and the Feasibility of Prophylactic Central Lymph Node Dissection in Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma

Objective. To identify the risk factors for cervical lymph node metastasis (CLNM) and the feasibility of prophylactic central lymph node dissection. Methods. The characteristics of 1107 patients were extracted and analyzed. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to identify risk factors associated with lymph node metastasis. The relationship between the central lymph node dissection (CLND) and lateral lymph node metastasis (LLNM) was analyzed using the correlation analysis. Results. The probability of CLNM was closely related to the male gender, age