Comparison between 3-dimensional and 2-dimensional endoscopic thyroidectomy for benign and malignant lesions: a meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: The use of 3-dimensional (3D) endoscopic thyroidectomy (ET) has been increasing, but its feasibility and safety have not been well documented for thyroidectomy. Hence, to systematically investigate the comparative outcomes during 3D-ET and 2-dimensional (2D) ET for benign and malignant lesions, we conducted this meta-analysis. METHODS: Based on the PRISMA guidelines, a systematic database search of the PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and Chinese Wanfang databases was performed. The eligible studies were published in English and Chinese up to October 2020. The major endpoints evaluated were procedure time, blood loss, postoperative drainage, postoperative hospitalization, postoperative complications, total number of lymph node dissections (LNDs), and total cost. RESULTS: A total of 15 relevant studies including 1190 patients (583 for 3D-ET and 607 for 2D-ET) compared the application of 3D and 2D laparoscopic systems in thyroid surgery, of which 8 were endoscopic benign thyroidectomy (EBT) and 7 were endoscopic malignant thyroidectomy (EMT). Our meta-analysis indicated that 3D-ET generally had advantages over 2D-ET in terms of procedure time (P = 0.000), blood loss (P = 0.000), postoperative drainage (P = 0.000), postoperative complications (P = 0.000), and LNDs (P = 0.006). However, there were no significant differences between the two systems in terms of total cost (P = 0.245) or postoperative hospitalization (P = 0.068). Subgroup analysis showed consistency of the overall outcomes in each subset, but a shorter postoperative hospitalization in 3D-EBT was revealed. CONCLUSIONS: Compared to 2D-ET, 3D endoscopic thyroidectomy is an efficient, safe, and reliable method with better depth perception and stereoscopic vision, and an equally satisfactory outcome. More clinical RCTs with long-term follow-up are required to reproduce these promising results. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12957-021-02134-4.