Table 3.
Technical differences in thyroid/parathyroid surgery by fellowship training; N, (% of respondents).
| Always/Mostly | Half-time | Some-times | Rarely | Unsure | P(t-test) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Use RLN neuromonitor | ||||||
| No Fellowship | 28(26) | 3(3) | 12(11) | 63(58) | 3(3) | .131 |
| Fellowship | 37(29) | 11(9) | 22(17) | 57(45) | 0(0) | |
| Use electrocautery near TE groove | ||||||
| No Fellowship | 6(6) | 3(3) | 15(14) | 85(78) | - | .086 |
| Fellowship | 15(12) | 3(2) | 20(16) | 89(70) | ||
| Bipolar near TE groove | ||||||
| No Fellowship | 22(20) | 9(8) | 17(16) | 60(55) | 1(1) | .016 |
| Fellowship | 40(32) | 11(9) | 27(21) | 49(39) | 0(0) | |
| Harmonic on vessels | ||||||
| No Fellowship | 32(29) | 9(8) | 18(17) | 49(45) | 1(1) | .08 |
| Fellowship | 42(33) | 21(17) | 23(18) | 40(32) | 1(1) | |
| Dissect RLN | ||||||
| No Fellowship | 64(59) | 13(12) | 16(15) | 16(15) | 0(0) | .009 |
| Fellowship | 89(70) | 17(13) | 14(11) | 6(5) | 1(1) | |
| Look for EBSLN | ||||||
| No Fellowship | 27(25) | 12(11) | 27(25) | 42(39) | 1(1) | .031 |
| Fellowship | 39(31) | 18(14) | 43(34) | 26(21) | 1(1) | |
| Divide Strap muscles | ||||||
| No Fellowship | 4(4) | 2(2) | 25(23) | 77(71) | 1(1) | |
| Fellowship | 9(7) | 5(4) | 32(25) | 80(63) | 1(1) | .105 |
P-values are t-test where categories were coded as 4-Always, 3-Half-time, 2-Sometime and 1-Rarely and treated as ordinal data. “Unsure” data were not included in the analysis.