Is sutureless thyroid surgery safe in the hands of surgical trainees. A single centre retrospective study

Trainee participation does not adversely affect the safety of thyroid surgery: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Surgical traineeship is essential but must be safe for patients. In thyroid surgery, surgeon volume correlates with improved clinical/economic outcomes. However, it is presently unclear how far does trainee participation affect post-thyroidectomy complication rates in real-world and randomized data. We systematically searched four databases for associations of trainee participation with any post-thyroidectomy outcome. We conducted univariate meta-analyses, sensitivity analyses, and assessed publication bias qualitatively and quantitatively. We included 1 randomized and 15 observational studies from 3755 records, comprising 34 774 thyroid surgical patients. Trainee participation was associated with 12 min longer operative time, but not higher complication rates (hypoparathyroidism, recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy, hematoma, blood loss, return to operating room, hospitalization duration, readmission, and mortality). Sensitivity, publication bias, and multivariate analyses did not change our findings. Real-world and limited randomized data suggest that trainee participation in thyroid surgery is safe, given adequate consultant supervision and appropriate case selection.

Completion Total Thyroidectomy Is Not Necessary for Papillary Thyroid Microcarcinoma with Occult Central Lymph Node Metastasis: A Long-Term Serial Follow-Up

Simple Summary

The necessity of completion total thyroidectomy is unclear in patients with papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) with only pathological central lymph node metastasis (pCLNM). The aim of our study was to determine the necessity of completion total thyroidectomy after an initial surgery by comparing the prognosis according to the presence of pCLNM during a long-term follow-up. We retrospectively compared the pathological central lymph node (pCLN)-positive group of 165 patients who underwent thyroid lobectomy with the pCLN-negative group of 711 patients and found no difference between the two groups in the recurrence rate and disease-free survival rates. Therefore, PTMC patients who underwent thyroid lobectomy with prophylactic central compartment neck dissection and were diagnosed with pCLNM after surgery do not require completion total thyroidectomy.

Abstract

The necessity of completion total thyroidectomy in patients with papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) and pathological central lymph node metastasis (pCLNM) who underwent thyroid lobectomy with central compartment neck dissection (CCND) is unclear. We determined the necessity of completion total thyroidectomy by retrospectively comparing the prognosis according to the presence of pCLNM during a long-term follow-up. We enrolled 876 patients with PTMC who underwent thyroid lobectomy with prophylactic CCND from January 1986 to December 2009. Patients were divided according to central lymph node (CLN) metastasis: 165 (18.8%) and 711 (81.2%) in the CLN-positive and CLN-negative groups, respectively. Medical records were reviewed retrospectively, and clinicopathologic characteristics and recurrence rates were analyzed. The CLN-positive group was associated with male sex (p = 0.001), larger tumor size (p < 0.001), and more microscopic capsular invasion (p < 0.001) compared with the CLN-negative group. There was no significant difference between the two groups’ recurrence (p = 0.133) or disease-free (p = 0.065) survival rates. Univariate and multivariate analyses showed no factors associated with tumor recurrence except male sex (hazard ratio = 3.043, confidence interval 1.117–8.288, p = 0.030). Patients who were diagnosed with pCLNM after undergoing thyroid lobectomy with prophylactic CCND do not require completion total thyroidectomy; however, frequent follow-up is necessary for patients with PTMC and pCLNM.

Safety and Cost-effectiveness of LigaSure® in Total Thyroidectomy in Comparison with Conventional Suture Tie Technique

Introduction: Total thyroidectomy has been considered to be a treatment of choice for thyroid malignancies. It has recently gained popularity as gold standard for benign thyroid disorders requiring surgical treatment. Because of higher number of complications associated with total thyroidectomy, it is still considered an adventurous endeavor. Most important improvements in thyroid surgery include laparoscopic thyroidectomy, energy based devices (EBD) like Harmonic Focus® and LigaSure® for dissection and hemostasis, intraoperative neuromonitoring, and parathyroid hormone (PTH) assay technology.

Aim of Study: Recent studies have suggested that despite lesser complication rates with LigaSure dissection method in total thyroidectomy, it is associated with prolonged operation time. Aim of our study was to compare conventional suture tie technique and LigaSure thyroidectomy, in terms of perioperative complications including bleeding, recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) injury, postoperative hematoma, hypocalcemia, operation time, and cost-effectiveness. 

Results: This is a retrospective descriptive study done at Shifa Internationall Hospital/Shifa College of Medicine/Shifa Tameer e’ Millat University, Islamabad, Pakistan from 1st of June 2016 to 1st of June 2018. One hundred and two (102) patients who underwent surgical treatment for benign thyroid diseases were included in the study. Study was done after approval from ethical committee of Shifa International Hospital/Shifa Tameer e’ Millat University. Group A included patients in whom LigaSure was used for hemostasis and dissection during total thyroidectomy. Group B included patients who underwent total thyroidectomy by traditional clamp, tie, and electrocautery method for hemostasis and dissection. Frequency of female patients in group A was 45 (88.2%) and in group B was 41 (80.3%). In group A frequency of male patients was 9 (17.6%) and in group B it was 7 (13.7%). Mean operative time in group A was significantly lower (92 ± 9.61 min) than group B (123 ± 7.96 min). Mean intraoperative blood loss in group A was estimated to be 51.73 ± 5.65 mL and 139.42 ± 7.31 mL in group B. Transient hypocalcemia was the most common complication in both the groups. In group A 6.8% (n=7) patients developed transient postoperative hypocalcemia. Three patients in group B (2.9%) had transient hypocalcemia.

Conclusion: LigaSure was significantly advantageous over conventional technique in reducing risk of complications and operation time as well as perioperative and postoperative blood loss. The reduction of operative times resulted in decreased operating room occupancy costs but the overall cost of surgery was significantly higher in LigaSure group.

Huge variations in definition and reported incidence of postsurgical hypoparathyroidism: a systematic review

PURPOSE

The reported incidence of post surgical hypoparathyroidism (HypoPT) varies greatly. Previous research suggests that the definition of HypoPT is not consistent in the literature. We therefore conducted a systematic review to investigate how HypoPT is defined and whether this definition, as well as the selected threshold for hypocalcemia affects the incidence.

METHODS

Using a predefined search string we identified all articles in PubMed reporting on the incidence of postsurgical HypoPT from 1st January 2010 to January 2017.

RESULTS

We identified 89 articles that employed 20 different definition of HypoPT. The incidence of HypoPT varied from 0.0% to 20.2%. The definitions were not associated with incidence of HypoPT. Use of prophylactic post-operative calcium supplements, however decreased the risk of HypoPT (p = 0.03), and there was a trend towards a lower risk of HypoPT when using a definition of hypocalcemia below lower limit of the reference range (p = 0.09).

CONCLUSION

The large number of definitions of HypoPT, as well as the huge variation in incidence point to a problem suggests that the awareness of HypoPT should be raised. Use of prophylactic post-operative calcium supplements may decrease risk of HypoPT. This, however, may be due to reverse causality as awareness of the risk of HypoPT may promote the use of calcium supplementation.