Single-blind randomized controlled comparison of 3D and 2D assistive functions in transoral endoscopic thyroid surgery

Objective To explore the clinical value of 3D and 2D assistive functions in transoral endoscopic thyroid surgery. Methods The clinical data of patients of transoral thyroid surgery from May. 2018 to Apr. 2019 were retrospectively collected. According to the surgical procedure, they were divided into 3D group and 2D group, 30 cases in each group. Data were analyzed by SPSS 20.0 statistical software, including operation time, postoperative hospital stay, number of lymph nodes removed, postoperative complication rate, etc. The two groups were measured by t test or Wilcoxon test. The count data were analyzed by McNemar paired χ2 test. Results There was no significant difference between the two groups in the baseline characteristics of the population (P>0.05) . There was also no significant difference in the intraoperative indexes including the operation time[ (118.20±19.50 vs 123.90±18.20) min], the intraoperative blood loss[ (8.00±3.00 vs 8.90±2.60) ml], the number of lymph nodes removed (8.20±3.30 vs 8.40±2.90) , and the lymph node metastasis rate (40.0% vs 33.3%) . The incidence of recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis (0.0% vs 3.3%) and transient hypocalcemia (0.0% vs 3.3%) were slightly lower in the 3D group, though there was no statistical difference. There was no significant difference in the postoperative index comparisons, including postoperative hospital stay[ (2.90±0.85 vs 2.87±0.82) Days], 24-hour postoperative drainage[ (58.00±19.50 vs 61.50±16.10) ml], pain scores (1.30±0.60 vs 1.20±0.60) , and patient satisfaction scores (8.90± 0.70 vs 8.80±0.60) . Conclusions 3D assisted operation is feasible in transoral endoscopic thyroid surgery. It may be beneficial to the reduction of the operation time as well as incidence of postoperative complications, and may be worthwhile to promote for further clinical application. Key words: 3D assist; Endoscopic thyroid surgery; Thyroid carcinoma; Transoral; Randomized controlled study