ObjectiveTo explore the location of postoperative recurrence of papillary thyroid carcinoma and analyze the causes of recurrence. MethodsThe clinical data of 96 patients who underwent reoperation for papillary thyroid cancer at the Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Zhengzhou University from January 2017 to March 2024 were retrospectively analyzed. ResultsOut of 96 patients, 3 had thyroid recurrence, 89 had lymph node recurrence, and 4 had thyroid and lymph node recurrence. There were 69 cases of single recurrence and 27 cases of multiple recurrence. Ten cases underwent lobectomy and lateral area cleaning, 8 cases underwent central area cleaning, 33 cases underwent lateral area cleaning, and 45 cases underwent central area+lateral area cleaning. Postoperative pathological examination revealed that there was lymph node metastasis in 93 cases (16 cases in the central region, 44 cases in the lateral region, and 33 cases in both the central and lateral regions), with 3 cases remaining non metastatic; 58 cases had extracapsular invasion of lymph nodes. Compared with patients with multiple relapses, patients with single recurrence had younger age (t=–3.385, P=0.001), lower incidence of gross extracapsular invasion of lymph nodes during surgery (χ2=6.970, P=0.008), higher number of metastatic lymph nodes (t=4.034, P=0.001), and lower rate of lymph node metastasis in zones Ⅱ, Ⅲ, and Ⅳ (χ2=8.142, P=0.004; χ2=6.357, P=0.012; χ2=12.547, P<0.001). ConclusionsPostoperative recurrence of papillary thyroid cancer is mainly due to lymph node recurrence. The advanced age and the visible lymph node extracapsular invasion significantly increased risk of postoperative recurrence of papillary thyroid cancer. Lymph node metastasis in the central region is a possible cause of multiple relapses and surgeries.