Abstract

Aim: One of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the healthcare system has been the postponement of elective procedures. We aimed to investigate how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected our thyroid fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) results.
Method: The distribution of cytology results during the 16.5 months of the pandemic was compared with the pre-pandemic period by The Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology (TBSRTC) diagnostic categories.
Results: The number of FNABs performed during the pandemic period decreased by 27.3% compared to the pre-pandemic period in our center, in line with the recommendations (1197 to 327 diagnostic FNABs). Benign biopsy results decreased during the pandemic period compared to the pre-pandemic period (77.3% to 49.5%, p

Key words: SARS-COV2 infection, Covid-19 pandemic, thyroid nodule, thyroid fine-needle aspiration, thyroid cancer