Clinical effect of Lymph Node Dissection in the Lateral Neck for the treatment of Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma: Endoscopic Thyroidectomy versus Open Surgery

OBJECTIVE: To compare the clinical effect, safety, and cosmetic effect of lymph node dissection via endoscopic thyroidectomy and open surgery in the treatment of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed on 86 patients with PTC admitted to Baoding No.1 Central Hospital from January 2020 to December 2021. The enrolled patients were divided into the endoscopic thyroidectomy (n = 34) and open surgery (n = 52) groups based on different surgical methods. Further comparison was conducted on the surgical indexes, postoperative complications, changes of oxidative stress indexes, numerical score system (NSS) score of postoperative cosmetic satisfaction, scar length, and recurrence rate between the two groups. RESULTS: The operation time was longer, and the intraoperative blood loss was lower for the endoscopic thyroidectomy group than those for the open surgery group (P < 0.05). The oxidative stress indexes of the endoscopic thyroidectomy group were significantly better than those of the open surgery group (P< 0.05). The postoperative complication rate of the endoscopic thyroidectomy group was lower than that of the open surgery group (P < 0.05). At six months after surgery, the scar length was shorter, and the NSS score was higher in the endoscopic thyroidectomy group than those in the open surgery group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Endoscopic thyroidectomy for PTC is safe and effective, with mild stress response, fewer postoperative complications, and good cosmetic effect.