The Accuracy of Sonography in the Differentiation of Benign and Malignant Thyroid Nodules

Objective: The primary objective was to assess the reliability of sonography in distinguishing between benign and malignant thyroid nodules. Materials and Methods: Search engines were used to procure articles from 2007 up to 2020, while following PRISMA guidelines. After excluding articles, due to inclusion and exclusion criteria, only 44 studies were evaluated for the pooling of results. Results: The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value, based on the use of sonography to differentiate benign and malignant thyroid nodules, had these results of 87.86%, 87.51%, 69.02%, and 92.33%, respectively. Conclusion: The pooled sensitivity and specificity of sonography in differentiating between benign and malignant thyroid nodules were significant but could not replace the use of histopathology. However, with the prudent use of sonography, biopsies of benign thyroid nodules could possibly be minimized.