Surgical complications in prophylactic central neck dissection: Preliminary findings from a retrospective cohort study

Aim. Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is the most frequent thyroid malignancy with an overall ten-year survival more than 90%. Total thyroidectomy (TT) is considered the gold standard for PTC, but not all the endocrine surgeons agree on central neck dissection except in case of known metastases. Methods. We enrolled 158 patients, that underwent, between January 1990 and September 2012 total thyroidectomy±prophylactic CND for PTC. 59 Patients (group A) had a preoperative diagnosis of PTC; 99 (group B) had a diagnosis of benign disease. We focused on possible complications. Results. In group A we had 4 patients who blamed a definitive RLN palsy, only 1 patient in group B, with an OR=7.12. Definitive hypoparathyroidism was found respectively in 3 patients of group A and in 5 patients in group B, even in this case not statistically significant with an OR=1.007. Conclusion. We can affirm that the complications of thyroid surgery seem not to be strongly associated to the extent of surgery.