OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of different thyroid hormone withdrawal (THW) duration before initial METHODS: DTC patients who underwent total thyroidectomy between January 2016 and August 2018 before initial RESULTS: Totally, 95.3% (303/318) of patients had TSH ≥ 30 mIU/L after THW. The rate of TSH ≥ 30 mIU/L in groups A and B was 93.8% (152/162) and 96.8% (151/156), respectively (P = 0.212). Age was the only factor influencing TSH ≥ 30 mIU/L (hazard ratio [HR] 0.937, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.882-0.997, P = 0.038). Changes of creatinine, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein and low-density lipoprotein before and after THW were higher in group B than in group A (all P <
0.05). After a median follow-up of 55 months, the rate of disease persistence/recurrence in groups A and B was 6.2% (7/113) and 2.3% (3/128), respectively (P = 0.241). Stimulated thyroglobulin before CONCLUSIONS: Two-week THW was an effective strategy to achieve TSH ≥ 30 mIU/L before