Table 2.
Analysis for Demographics, Clinical, Laboratory and Operative Findings of the study participants.
| Variable^ (reference values) | Control Group N. 55 |
I-IONM N. 82 |
C-IONM N. 72 |
P† |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gender (M/F) | 1:1.6 | 1:1.7 | 1 :1.6 | 0.283 |
| Age at diagnosis (years) | 40 ± 5 (15–58) | 39 ± 3 (18–53) | 38 ± 3 (12–53) | 0.07 |
| BMI (Kg/m2) | 24.5 ± 3 (16.5–38) | 24.9 ± 4 (18–40) | 23.5 ± 3 (17–39) | 0.126 |
|
Smoking status Yes No |
10 (18) 45 (82) |
22 (26)60 (73) |
20 (27) 52 (72) |
0.189 |
|
Thyroid disease duration - <1 year - >1 year |
5 (9%) 50 (91%) |
8 (9%) 74 (91%) |
6 (8%) 66 (92%) |
0.17 |
| hTSH levels (0.55–4.78 mIU/l) | 2.62 ± 0.48 | 2.45 ± 0.72 | 2.35 ± 0.6 | 0.13 |
| Free T3 (2.3–4.2 pg/ml) | 3.05 ± 0.30 | 3.0 ± 0.38 | 2.9 ± 0.28 | 0.79 |
| Free T4 (0.76–1.4 ng/dl) | 1.93 ± 0.13 | 1.2 ± 0.1 | 1.93 ± 0.13 | 0.29 |
| hTg (3–40 ng/ml) | 19.3 ± 2.1 | 20.1 ± 0.9 | 25.2 ± 1.9 | 0.07 |
| Preoperative TBII level (units/l) | 11.2 ± 0.22 | 12.1 ± 0.1 | 10.1 ± 0.1 | 0.2 |
|
TBII levels at 12 months after surgery Positive Negative |
9 46 |
4 78 |
4 68 |
0.5 |
|
Procedure performed -Total thyroidectomy - Near total thyroidectomy - Subtotal thyroidectomy |
45 (81) 9 (16.3) 1 (1.8) |
77 (93) 5 (6) 0 (0) |
69 (95) 3 (4.1) 0 (0) |
0.049^^ |
| Duration of surgery (min) | 63 ± 5 (49–140) | 43 ± 4 (35–100) |
52 ± 4 (45–220) |
0.032 |
| Thyroid volume (grams) | 43.1 ± 10.8 (16–50) | 47.9 ± 8.8 (7–70) | 45.9 ± 7.8 (15–51) | 0.09 |
| Parathyroid found in pathological report | 3 (5,4) | 5 (6) | 3 (4.1) | 0.1 |
|
Histology Benign Malignant |
54 (98) 1 (1.8) |
81 (99) 1 (1.2) |
70 (96) 2 (2.7) |
0.17 |
| Hospital stay (days) | 2.6 ± 0.4(2–7) | 2.3 ± 0.3(1–5) | 2.4 ± 0.3(1–5) | 0.145 |
| Hypoparathyroidism transient | 10 (18) | 12 (14) | 12 (16) | 0.086 |
| Hypoparathyroidism definitive | 1 (1.8%) | 1 (1.2) | 0 | 0.57 |
|
RLNP transient (NAR = )* |
6/110 (5.4) | 6/164 (3.6) | 4/144 (2.7) | 0.058 |
|
RLNP definitive (NAR = )* |
1 (0.9) | – | – | – |
| Bilateral RLNP | 1 (1.8) | – | – | – |
| RLNP time recovery (months) | 2 (1–12) | 2 (1–4) | 2 (1–4) | 0.8 |
|
RLNP EMG amplitude data (μV) V1 V2 |
– – |
843 ± 120 50 ± 10 |
791 ± 55 68 ± 18 |
0.8 |
| Wound hematoma | 1 (1.8) | – | – | – |
| Bleeding ° | – | 1 (1.2) | – | |
| Seroma | 2 (3.6) | – | – | – |
| Wound infection | – | – | 1 (1.3) | – |
| Mortality | – | – | – | – |
| Overall morbidity (total ^) | 19/55 (34) | 17/82 (20) | 15/72 (20.8) | 0.052 |
Patients groups are described in the “Methods” section.
^Data are given as mean number, ± standard deviation (percentage, range) of patients.
Blood examinations were tested preoperatively, <1 months before surgery.
BMI: body mass index.
hTSH: human thyroid-stimulating hormone.
T3: triiodothyronine.
T4: thyroxine.
TBII level (units/l): thyrotropin-binding inhibitory immunoglobulin.
hTg: serum thyroglobulin.
RLNP: recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy.
EMG: electromyography.
* Numbers are give as number (percentage) of nerves at risk.
NAR: nerves at risk.
° Bleeding required re-intervention.
† Student’s t test.
^^ C-IONM + I-IONM vs. Control group.