Objective: To compare the clinical value of ultrasonic elastography (UE) and three common ultrasonic features in diagnosing papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). Methods: From January 2012 to December 2017, the clinical data of 105 cases with PTC which were confirmed by postoperative pathologic examination and 20 cases with benign thyroid nodules (BTN) in the Integration of Chinese and Western Medicine Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine were analyzed retrospectively.The UE and common ultrasonic features comprising a taller-than-wide shape, irregular margins and microcalcifications were analyzed.The sensitivity, specificity and area under curve (AUC) of PCT dingnosis with two different ultrasonic parameters are calculated. Results: Based on surgical pathology, the diagnostic sensitivity of irregular boundary is the highest amony the three paraneters of ordinary ultrasound.Although an irregular margin showed higher sensitivity than taller-than-wide shape and microcalcifications with 71.42% vs.59.04% vs.60.00%, but there was no statistically significant difference (χ²=4.3, P=0.116). There was also no statistically significant difference in specificity (χ²=0.134, P=0.935). The diagnostic efficiency of UE was higher than taller-than-wide shape (Z=3.046, P=0.002), irregular margin(Z=2.962, P=0.003) as well as microcalcifications(Z=3.942, P=0.000), the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05). The diagnostic efficiency of UE was higher than the combined three common ultrasonic features together (Z=3.125, P=0.001). Conclusion UE score shows a higher diagnostic efficiency, easy to perform, indicating the important application value in preoperative diagnosis of PTC, and is worthy of promoting in clinic.