A comparative study of thyroid surgery with and without a microscope

Abstract

Introduction: The purpose of this prospective study was to evaluate microsurgical thyroidectomy by comparing it with traditional thyroidectomy. Material and Method: Before surgery, patients were assigned either to the microscopic thyroidectomy group (MT group), with the use of the surgical microscope, or the traditional thyroidectomy group (TT group), without the use of visual magnification. Aims and Objective: Outcome measures were operative time, intraoperative bleeding, and complication rates including injury to the recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN), the external branch of the superior laryngeal nerve (EBSLN), or the parathyroid glands. Result: Sixty patients underwent thyroid surgery (30 patients in the MT group and 30 patients in the TT group). The two groups were almost similar in age, sex, surgical procedures, and histological findings. There was no difference between the two techniques regarding the operative time and the amount of blood loss. Neither permanent nerve palsy nor persistent hypocalcemia occurred in either group. Transient nerve palsies (RLN and EBSLN) were lower in the MT group (3.3%) compared to the TT group (6.6%). Overall transient hypocalcemia was significantly lower in the MT group (3.3%) compared with the TT group (13.3%). If the population was restricted to total thyroidectomy, the rate of transient hypocalcemia was 1% in the MT group and 1% in the TT group, respectively. Conclusion: In conclusion, thyroid surgery with a microscope is significantly reduced the complication without increasing the operative time compare to without microscope.