Abstract Seventy-three cases of solitary thyroid nodule have been analysed in detail, including their clinical presentation and operative and histological features. Females were more frequently affected than males in a ratio of 6:1. A considerable number of solitary nodules diagnosed clinically turned out to be multinodular at operation (164 per cent).The incidence of malignancy in the present series was 6·8 per cent while that of toxicity was 6 per cent. Drill biopsy was found to be a useful diagnostic aid with a high accuracy rate. Thyroid lymphography has not been found to be of much help. In view of the low incidence of malignancy a plea for excision of the solitary thyroid nodule is made.