A Prospective Randomized Clinical Study of Minimally Invasive Video-assisted Thyroidectomy for Papillary Thyroid Microcarcinoma

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to observe the effectiveness of minimally invasive video-assisted thyroidectomy (MIVAT) in treating papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC). METHODS: A total of 224 patients with PTMC who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria were selected from the Department of General Surgery, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, between January 2017 and December 2019. They were randomized into the MIVAT group or traditional open operation group. For both groups, we observed the number of lymph node dissections, amount of intraoperative blood loss, duration of the operation, length of the incision, and number of injuries to the recurrent laryngeal nerve. RESULTS: The average operation time (132.8±29.4 min) in the MIVAT group was significantly higher than that in the open surgery group (83.8±14.29 min) (P=0.026). The length of incision (2.8±0.6 cm) in patients in the MIVAT group was significantly shorter than that in patients in the open group (7.4±1.1 cm) (P=0.000). No significant differences were observed in the number of lymph node dissections (P=0.712), the amount of intraoperative bleeding (P=0.581), and the number of recurrent laryngeal nerve injuries (P=0.634). The average follow-up was 5 years, and both groups had no recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: In the treatment of PTMC, MIVAT had similar outcomes as traditional open operations, although the operation time was longer. However, the length of the incision was significantly shorter and thus provided cosmetic advantages for patients.