A retrospective cohort study of total areolar endoscopic approach versus open thyroidectomy for the treatment of papillary thyroid carcinoma / 国际外科学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To compare the effectiveness of areola approach endoscopic thyroidectomy (AET) and conventional open thyroidectomy (OT) in treating papillary thyroid carcinoma.Methods:Four hundred and twenty-eight female patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma who were treated at the Department of General Surgery, Beijing Friendship Hospital between January 2017 and January 2020 were included according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, of whom 183 underwent AET (AET group) and 245 underwent OT (OT group). Direct comparison and subsequent propensity score matching methodology were utilized to compare the differences between the two operation methods in terms of surgical time, intraoperative parathyroid transplantation rate, intraoperative nerve injury, postoperative complications, reoperation rate, number of lymph node dissections, postoperative lymph node metastasis at 2 years, and route tumor implantation. Data analysis was performed by using SPSS 25.0 software. The metric data of normal distribution was represented by mean ± standard deviation ( ± s), and the t-test was used for between-group comparison. The Chi-test was used for between-group comparison of count data. Results:The AET group had an age of (38.89±9.08) years, weight of (62.10±10.45) kg, and height of (161.97±5.31) cm; the OT group had an age of (45.88±12.47) years, weight of (65.11±12.72) kg, and height of (161.62±5.24) cm. The differences in age, weight, and body mass index between the two groups were statistically significant ( P<0.05). The surgical time in the AET group was (183.00±137.22) min, which was significantly longer than (87.94±28.25) min of the OT group ( t=16.67, P<0.001). The parathyroid transplantation rate in the OT group was significantly higher than that in the AET group (49.39% vs 34.97%, χ2=8.87, P=0.003). There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups in terms of intraoperative nerve injury, postoperative complications, reoperation rate, number of lymph node dissections, postoperative lymph node metastasis at 2 years, and route tumor implantation. After propensity score matching based on differences in age, weight, body mass index, and soon, 183 cases of AET (AET-PS group) and OT (OT-PS group) were obtained for statistical analysis. The surgical time in the AET-PS group was (137.22±32.77) min, which was significantly longer than (90.26±29.35) min of the OT-PS group ( t=14.44, P<0.001). The parathyroid transplantation rate in the OT-PS group was significantly higher than that in the AET-PS group (53.01% vs. 34.97%, χ2=12.08, P=0.001). There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups in terms of intraoperative nerve injury, postoperative complications, reoperation rate, number of lymph node dissections, postoperative lymph node metastasis at 2 years, and route tumor implantation. Conclusions:AET and OT are equally safe and effective in treating papillary thyroid carcinoma. AET surgery can be performed safely and feasibly under strict adherence to surgical principles.