Pseudomonas aeruginosa injection decreases drainage in lateral neck dissection for metastatic thyroid cancer

Background Pseudomonas aeruginosa injection (PAI) has been proven effective against chylous fistula but not in decreasing drainage after lateral neck dissection (LND). To verify the safety of spraying PAI onto the surface of the traumatic cavity after total thyroidectomy with LND and to evaluate whether its application can reduce the drainage volume. Methods A total of 85 patients with metastatic papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) who agreed to total thyroidectomy with unilateral LND were recruited from March 2016 to September 2017. During the operation, PAI was applied in 44 patients, while 41 remaining patients served as the control group. The thyroid function and parathyroid function, drainage volume, hospital stay, and incidence of complications were compared between the two groups. Results The groups had few differences in age, gender, BMI, thyroid function, parathyroid function, diameter of tumor, and the number of the harvested lymph nodes. The median total drainage volume was significantly smaller and the mean hospital stay was obviously shorter in the PAI group compared to the non-PAI group. But the median volumes of peak 24-hour drainage which appeared during the first day after operation had few differences in the two groups. Postoperative fever in the PAI group was higher than in the non-PAI group. None of the patients had permanent recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis and tumor recurrence on the 12th month after operation. Conclusions The application of PAI to the wound cavity after LND is safe and effective for reducing the drainage volume and hospital stay.