Objective To evaluate effectiveness of application with FOCUS harmonic scalpel in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) surgery.Methods 110 patients with PTC between June 2013 and December 2013 were divided into two groups randomly as harmonic scalpel group (group H) and conventional group (group C).Incision length,operative time,estimated blood loss,drainage volume within 24 h,in the second 24 h and in total after operation,the number of lymph node retrieval,post-operative complication and hospital stay were compared between two groups.Rusults There is significant different in factors of incision length [(5.5±0.4) cm in group H and (6.6±0.5) cm in group C (P ＜ 0.05)],operative time [(54.4±8.7) min in group H and (73.3±13.9) min in group C (P ＜ 0.05)],estimated blood loss [(14.2±6.0) ml in group H and (29.8±5.0) ml in group C (P ＜ 0.05)].There were no differences in drainage volume,the number of lymph node retrieval,post-operative complication and hospital stay between two group (P ＞ 0.05).Conclusion FOCUS harmonic scalpel could reduce incision length,operative time,estimated blood loss in PTC surgery.