A comparative study of the surgical outcomes between video-assisted and open lateral neck dissection for papillary thyroid carcinoma with lateral neck lymph node metastases

Purpose: Video-assisted lateral neck dissection (VALND) for papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) with lateral neck lymph node metastases (LNM) has been described previously, however, the advantages and drawbacks of VALND have not been demonstrated in previous studies. The aim of this study was to compare the surgical outcomes of video-assisted and open lateral neck dissection for PTC with lateral neck LNM. Materials and methods: Between May 2013 and November 2014, 92 consecutive patients with PTC and lateral neck lymph node metastases underwent total thyroidectomy with central compartment neck dissection and unilateral lateral neck dissection. These included 54 individuals who underwent video-assisted surgery, and 38 in whom an open approach was used. The two groups were retrospectively compared with respect to their clinicopathological characteristics, surgical outcomes and oncological completeness. Results: The mean follow-up period was 18.6 months. The mean tumor size, tumor stage, mean numbers of retrieved lymph nodes, mean postoperative serum thyroglobulin levels, complication rates, and mean postoperative hospital stay were similar between the two groups. The mean operation time was longer (p = 0.0001) and mean age was lower (p = 0.0354) in the video-assisted group. The cosmetic results, evaluated by numerical scale and verbal response scale, were in favor of the video-assisted group (p = 0.0003 and p < 0.0001, respectively). Conclusions: The safety and oncological completeness of VALND was similar to that of open procedures, but the VALND resulted in improved cosmetic results. VALND is an effective treatment for the selected cases of PTC with lateral neck LNM. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.