Table 2.
Procedure‐specific intraoperative and postoperative outcomes
| Less than TT (n = 35) | Less than TT + any LND (n = 59) | TT without LND (n = 55) | TT + LNE (n = 18) | TT + CLND (n = 251) | TT + CLND + unilateral LLND (n = 155) | TT + CLND + bilateral LLND (n = 77) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intraoperative outcomes | |||||||
| Duration of operation (min) (n = 603)* | 78 (55–105) | 105 (71–154) | 101 (80–126) | 150 (95–169) | 118 (85–145) | 220 (165–300) | 240 (184–370) |
| No. of parathyroid glands identified | |||||||
| 0 | 5 (14) | 2 (3) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 2 (0·8) | 1 (0·6) | 0 (0) |
| 1 | 18 (51) | 8 (14) | 4 (7) | 0 (0) | 5 (2·0) | 11 (7·1) | 5 (6) |
| 2 | 9 (26) | 24 (41) | 7 (13) | 4 (22) | 30 (12·0) | 37 (23·9) | 15 (19) |
| 3 | 1 (3) | 11 (19) | 17 (31) | 6 (33) | 50 (19·9) | 38 (24·5) | 23 (30) |
| 4 | 2 (6) | 14 (24) | 27 (49) | 8 (44) | 163 (64·9) | 68 (43·9) | 34 (44) |
| 5 | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 1 (0·4) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
| Parathyroid reimplantation | 5 (14) | 6 (10) | 3 (5) | 5 (28) | 68 (27·1) | 74 (47·7) | 35 (45) |
| IONM used (n = 578) | 18 (62) | 43 (78) | 39 (78) | 11 (85) | 212 (88·3) | 123 (93·9) | 52 (87) |
| No. of RLNs identified | |||||||
| 0 | 0 (0) | 2 (3) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 2 (0·8) | 3 (1·9) | 0 (0) |
| 1 | 32 (91) | 28 (47) | 1 (2) | 0 (0) | 1 (0·4) | 3 (1·9) | 1 (1) |
| 2 | 3 (9) | 29 (49) | 54 (98) | 18 (100) | 248 (98·8) | 149 (96·1) | 76 (99) |
| RLN damage (n = 521) | |||||||
| No | 18 (5) | 47 (85) | 40 (95) | 13 (100) | 208 (94·5) | 98 (83·8) | 44 (80) |
| Unilateral | 1 (5) | 8 (15) | 2 (5) | 0 (0) | 12 (5·5) | 19 (16·2) | 10 (18) |
| Bilateral | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 1 (2) |
| Postoperative complications | |||||||
| Duration of hospital stay (days) (n = 502)* | 1·5 (1–2) | 2 (1–3) | 2 (1–2) | 2 (1–3) | 2 (1–3) | 3 (2–5) | 4 (2–6) |
| Calcium therapy (n = 627) | |||||||
| Oral only | 1 (3) | 8 (15) | 8 (15) | 7 (30) | 74 (29·6) | 56 (36·8) | 28 (41) |
| Intravenous only | 0 (0) | 1 (2) | 1 (2) | 0 (0) | 1 (0·4) | 1 (0·7) | 1 (1) |
| Oral and intravenous | 0 (0) | 1 (2) | 1 (2) | 1 (6) | 4 (1·6) | 7 (4·6) | 7 (10) |
| Treatment at discharge | |||||||
| Calcium only | 0 (0) | 1 (2) | 3 (5) | 3 (17) | 9 (3·6) | 21 (13·5) | 8 (10) |
| Active vitamin D only | 0 (0) | 2 (3) | 0 (0) | 1 (6) | 3 (1·2) | 4 (2·6) | 3 (4) |
| Calcium and active vitamin D | 1 (3) | 7 (12) | 9 (16) | 2 (11) | 102 (40·6) | 52 (33·5) | 27 (35) |
| Hypoparathyroidism | |||||||
| No (or during hospital stay) | 34 (97) | 48 (81) | 39 (71) | 11 (61) | 132 (52·6) | 78 (50·3) | 34 (44) |
| At discharge, no follow‐up | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 9 (3·6) | 4 (2·6) | 0 (0) |
| Transient – recovered | 1 (3) | 5 (8) | 6 (11) | 3 (17) | 35 (13·9) | 25 (16·1) | 16 (21) |
| At least transient | 0 (0) | 6 (10) | 10 (18) | 4 (11) | 75 (29·9) | 48 (31·0) | 27 (35) |
| Laryngoscopy | 23 (66) | 36 (61) | 32 (58) | 9 (50) | 186 (74·1) | 112 (72·3) | 53 (69) |
| RLN palsy (n = 451) | |||||||
| No | 21 (91) | 27 (75) | 30 (94) | 9 (100) | 165 (88·7) | 84 (75·0) | 38 (72) |
| Transient – recovered | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 1 (3) | 0 (0) | 6 (3·2) | 7 (6·3) | 1 (2) |
| At least transient | 2 (9) | 9 (25) | 1 (3) | 0 (0) | 15 (8·1) | 21 (18·8) | 14 (26) |
| Bleeding requiring reoperation | 1 (3) | 0 (0) | 2 (4) | 0 (0) | 5 (2·0) | 7 (4·5) | 2 (3) |
| Wound infection (n = 642) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 2 (0·8) | 1 (0·7) | 2 (3) |
| Other complication (any grade) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 3 (1·2) | 11 (7·1) | 3 (4) |
Values in parentheses are percentages unless indicated otherwise; *values are median (i.q.r.). Bilateral subtotal/near‐total thyroidectomy was considered as less than total thyroidectomy (TT). LND, lymph node dissection; LNE, lymph node excision; CLND, central lymph node dissection; LLND, lateral lymph node dissection; IONM, intraoperative nerve monitoring; RLN, recurrent laryngeal nerve.