Analysis of Risk Factors for Surgical Complications of Endoscopic Thyroidectomy via Total Areola Approach

BACKGROUND: Increased surgical technology has led broad acceptance endoscopic thyroidectomy and its application in the treatment of thyroid diseases, including thyroid carcinoma. Although the incidence of complications and mortality of thyroid surgery has been significantly reduced, serious complications still occur from time to time. The purpose of this retrospective study is to identify the factors that influence the complications of endoscopic thyroidectomy. METHODS: This study was carried out between January 2012 and December 2019, where a total of 630 patients undergoing endoscopic thyroidectomy via the total areola approach were retrospectively evaluated to identify the key influencing factors of complications. RESULTS: The study established that the common complications included recurrent laryngeal nerve injury (3.33%), superior laryngeal nerve injury (2.54%), hypocalcemia (8.57%), and the incidence of complications was acceptable. Both univariate and multivariate analysis showed that thyroid carcinoma (P = 0.041), operation time lasting more than 150 minutes (P = 0.034) and operation before 2017 (P = 0.001) were risk factors of recurrent laryngeal nerve injury. We established that operation after 2017 (P < 0.005) was the only protective factor of superior laryngeal nerve injury. Thyroid carcinoma (P=0.04), operation mode (P=0.001), and surgery before 2017 (P<0.001) are risk factors for parathyroid injury. Among the clinical groups, operation before 2017 was an independent risk factor for all complications. CONCLUSION: For thyroid specialists, after the early learning curve, with the continuous improvement of endoscopic operation technology, high-definition equipment and more sophisticated operation equipment can be used in clinical practice, which can prevent and reduce the occurrence of complications.