Objective To explore the effectiveness of detailed physiotherapy in perioperative rehabilitation of patients undergoing thyroid cancer surgery with lymph node dissection. Methods A total of 97 patients with thyroid malignancy who underwent surgical treatment in West China Hospital of Sichuan University between February and June 2021 were selected and randomly divided into the trial group (n=50) and the control group (n=47). The patients in the trial group received detailed physiotherapy, and the patients in the control group received routine perioperative rehabilitation. The degree of pain within the operation area and the degree of neck and shoulder discomfort associated with surgery within 4 weeks, and the scores of Neck Dissection Impairment Index 4 weeks after surgery were compared between the two groups. The pain score, which was non-normally distributed, was described by median (lower quartile, upper quartile) and compared by generalized estimation equation; the discomfort score and score of Neck Dissection Impairment Index, which were normally distributed, were described by mean ± standard deviation, and the former was compared by multivariate analysis of variance, and the latter was compared by Student’s t-test. Results In the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th week after surgery, the pain scores within the operation area were 2.2 (1.7, 3.3), 1.5 (1.0, 2.2), 1.5 (0.0, 2.3), and 0.0 (0.0, 1.2), respectively in the trial group, and 3.4 (2.7, 5.2), 2.6 (1.5, 3.5), 2.4 (1.1, 3.4), and 1.5 (1.1, 2.0), respectively in the control group; the surgery-related neck and shoulder discomfort scores were 8.72±4.14, 5.28±2.98, 5.89±2.78, and 3.57±1.83, respectively in the trial group, and 10.56±5.30, 7.54±4.51, 7.37±3.49, and 5.05±2.59, respectively in the control group. Within 4 weeks after operation, the surgical-area pain scores and surgery-related neck and shoulder discomfort scores in the trial group were lower than those in the control group, and the differences were statistically significant (Wald χ2=28.826, P<0.001; F=7.695, P=0.007). In the post-operative week 4, the Neck Dissection Impairment Index in the trial group was higher than that in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (75.23±20.40 vs. 63.83±19.52; t=2.809, P=0.006). Conclusion For patients undergoing thyroid cancer surgery with lymph node dissection, detailed physiotherapy intervention is more effective than routine perioperative rehabilitation.