Table 4.

Meta-analysis of the subgroups according to the extent of thyroidectomy

Outcomes	No of studies	No of patients		OR/WMD	95% CI	P-value	I2 (%)
		ET	OT
TT
Operative time	4	269	410	47.40	34.18, 60.61	<0.00001	84
No of retrieved LNs	4	269	410	−0.10	−0.50, 0.30	0.63	0
Blood loss	2	125	225	2.35	−7.27, 11.97	0.63	79
Volume of drainage	2	145	240	100.31	−33.67, 234.29	0.14	94
Hospitalization period	2	145	240	0.33	0.10, 0.56	0.005	0
Transient RLN palsy	4	269	410	1.58	0.66, 3.79	0.31	0
Permanent RLN palsy	3	194	287	1.89	0.49, 7.33	0.36	20
Transient hypocalcemia	3	194	287	1.48	0.68, 3.20	0.32	70
Permanent hypocalcemia	3	194	287	1.35	0.46, 3.99	0.58	0
Hematoma or bleeding	3	219	308	2.93	0.61, 14.02	0.18	0
Seroma	2	170	261	0.67	0.10, 4.55	0.68	0
LTT
Operative time	4	148	166	45.96	29.33, 62.59	<0.00001	90
No of retrieved  LNs	4	203	364	−0.89	−2.48, 0.70	0.27	90
Blood loss	2	54	65	6.52	−0.72, 13.76	0.08	46
Duration of drainage	2	54	65	2.20	1.82, 2.59	<0.00001	0
Volume of drainage	2	54	65	114.99	99.74, 130.24	<0.00001	0
Hospitalization period	3	114	136	0.81	−0.19, 1.82	0.11	95
Transient RLN palsy	4	186	358	2.83	1.26, 6.36	0.01	44
Permanent RLN palsy	3	152	328	5.29	0.54, 52.22	0.15	0
Transient hypocalcemia	2	54	65	0.31	0.07, 1.36	0.12	0
Hematoma or bleeding	4	148	166	2.20	0.62, 7.84	0.22	0

Abbreviations: ET, endoscopic thyroidectomy; LN, lymph node; LTT, less than total thyroidectomy; OT, open thyroidectomy; RLN, recurrent laryngeal nerve; TT, total thyroidectomy; WMD, weighted mean difference.