The Laryngoscope C 2013 The American Laryngological, V

Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.

Comparison of Surgical Completeness Between Robotic Total Thyroidectomy Versus Open Thyroidectomy Kyung Tae, MD; Chang M. Song, MD; Yong B. Ji, MD; Kyung R. Kim, MD; Ji Y. Kim, MD; Yun Y. Choi, MD Objectives/Hypothesis: The aim of this study was to investigate the surgical completeness of robotic total thyroidectomy compared with conventional open thyroidectomy. Study Design: Retrospective, case-control study. Methods: We studied 245 patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma who underwent total thyroidectomy and postoperative radioactive iodine (RAI) ablation. Of these, 62 patients underwent robotic thyroidectomy by a gasless unilateral axillobreast (GUAB) or axillary (GUA) approach, and 183 underwent conventional open thyroidectomy. We analyzed serum TSH-stimulated thyroglobulin (Tg) and RAI uptake at the time of RAI remnant ablation to compare surgical completeness in the two groups. Results: Tumor characteristics and complications did not differ between the two groups except TNM stage. The mean TSH-stimulated Tg at the first RAI ablation was significantly higher in the robotic group (10.20 6 9.98 ng/ml) than in the open group (3.85 6 6.79 ng/ml) (P 30 lIU/ml in all the patients, with five exceptions (2 patients in the robotic group and 3 patients in the open group). RAI uptake rates at the first RAI ablation were 100% and 95.6% in Tae et al.: Surgical Completeness of Robotic Thyroidectomy

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TABLE I. Clinicopathological Characteristics of the Robotic and Open Thyroidectomy Cases. Characteristics

Age, y Gender Male

Robotic Thyroidectomy (n 5 62)

Open Thyroidectomy (n 5 183)

P Value

40.5 6 9.6

51.4 6 11.3