Objective To evaluate the value of ultrasound-guided core needle biopsy(US-CNB) in diagnosing malignant and benign thyroid nodule by meta-analysis.Methods A computer-based online retrieval on the accurate tests of US-CNB for diagnosing thyroid nodule was conducted in PubMed,Cochrane Library (Issue 5,2016),EMbase,CBM,CNKI,VIP,Wangfang Data databases.The retrieval time limit was from the database establishment to June 8,2016.The quality of included articles was assessed by using the quality assessment of diagnostic accuracy studies (QUADAS).The puncture success rate,diagnosis sensitivity (Sen),specificity (Spe),positive likelihood ratio (+LR),negative likelihood ratio (-LR),diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) and area under the curve (AUC) of summary receiver operating characteristic curve (SROC) were served as the outcome indicators.The included data were performed the statistical analysis by using STATA12.0 and Meta-Disc 1.4 softwares.Results A total of 29 diagnostic accuracy trials were finally included,involving 4 213 patients with 4 391 thyroid nodules.The meta-analysis results suggested that the US-CNB puncture success rate was 98.7 ％ [95％ CI (98.3 ％,99.0 ％)];Sen of US-CNB for diagnosing thyroid nodule was 0.94 [95％CI(0.93,0.95)],Spe=0.98[95 ％CI(0.98,0.99)],+LR=33.96[95％CI(20.31,56.78)],-LR=0.06[95％CI(0.04,0.10)],DOR=581.44[95 ％CI(335.08,1 007.87)],and the AUC of SROC was 0.99.Conclusion The current evidences indicate that UG-CNB has high diagnostic accuracy in benign and malignant thyroid nodules,and is worth promotion and application in clinic.