Abstract: ¹³¹I treatment is a safe, effective and important adjuvant way for patients with differentiated thyroid cancer, and it may cause radiation damage. In order to reduce the radiation hazard, patients need to be hospitalized after treatment with large doses of ¹³¹I. The length of time that patients need to be hospitalized is determined by the in vivo radioactivity, the surrounding equivalent dose rate, and so on. The progress of discharge criteria, in vivo activity estimation, radiation dose monitoring, hospitalization isolation time and it’s predictive factors after ¹³¹I treatment in patients with thyroid cancer, is summarized. It’s expected to provides reference for the implementation of standardized and reasonable discharge standards in clinical work, and further research.

Key words: Iodine-131, Differentiated thyroid carcinoma, Discharge criteria, Discharge time