As an indolent endocrine tumor, the incidence rate and detection rate of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) has increased rapidly in the past few years. Although it belongs to indolent tumor with satisfactory prognosis, the cervical lymph node metastasis (CLNM) rate reaches up to 20-80%. As a basic imageological examination method, ultrasound technology plays an important role in the detection of central CLNM. However, due to the presence of false negative ultrasound features of lymph nodes in tumor metastasis, or the limitations of ultrasound technology itself, some metastatic lymph nodes were still not detected in time before preoperative ultrasound examination, which may affect the choice of surgical methods and prognosis evaluation. Therefore, it is very important to choose a suitable ultrasound diagnosis method. This article reviews the current application of several commonly used ultrasound diagnostic methods for assessing CLNM in PTC patients.