Thyroid Surgery E-Book

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 833

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2012

Beschreibung

Do you regularly perform thyroid surgery?

Are you looking for a tool that guides you through best surgical practice and successful
avoidance of complications?

Whether you are an endocrine surgeon, general surgeon or otolaryngologist, you will find this highly practical, full colour multimedia tool an essential guide to help perfect your surgical techniques and overcome the various complications that can arise when performing surgery of the thyroid.

Packed full of useful tips and tricks, and well illustrated with over 130 figures, it covers the following key areas:

• Best practices in thyroid surgery

• Intraoperative complications – both common and rare cases

• Postoperative complications – including those needing urgent treatment

• Complications following minimally invasive and robotic techniques

• Thyroid hormone replacement and quality of life after thyroid surgery.

Included also are 20 high resolution, step-by-step surgical videos of thyroid surgery, giving you outstanding visual coverage of the experts in action.

Edited by an expert international editor team from the US and Europe, Thyroid Surgery: Preventing and
Managing Complications perfectly meets all of your clinical needs.

Leseprobe

Contents

Contributors

Foreword

Preface

About the Companion Website

PART I Epidemiology and Acceptable Ratesof Complications Following Thyroid and Parathyroid Surgery

CHAPTER 1 Incidence of Morbidity Following Thyroid Surgery: Acceptable Morbidity Rates

Introduction

Morbidity of thyroid surgery

Acceptable rates of thyroid surgery complications

Statistical and epidemiological analysis to study the complications of thyroid surgery

CHAPTER 2 Medical Malpractice and Surgery of the Thyroid and Parathyroid Glands

Introduction

Methods and results

Poor outcome

Diagnostic delays

Recurrent laryngeal nerve injury

Postoperative hypoparathyroidism

Conclusion

CHAPTER 3 Extent of Thyroidectomy and Incidence of Morbidity: Risk-appropriate Treatment

Introduction

Rate of complications in thyroid surgery

Lobectomy versus total thyroidectomy

Complications in central neck dissection for thyroid cancer

Minimizing risks

Conclusion

CHAPTER 4 Thyroid Surgery in Paediatric Patients

Introduction

Graves’ disease

Thyroid cancer

Non-cancerous nodules

Conclusion

PART II Best Practices in Thyroid Surgery

CHAPTER 5 How to Perform a ‘Safe’ Thyroidectomy: ‘Tips and Tricks’

Introduction

Preoperative considerations

Intraoperative considerations for thyroidectomy

Postoperative considerations

CHAPTER 6 Minimally Invasive Video-assisted Thyroidectomy

Introduction

Minimally invasive video-assisted thyroidectomy

CHAPTER 7 Robotic Thyroid Surgery

Introduction

Robotic-assisted transaxillary thyroidectomy technique

Robotic facelift thyroidectomy

Conclusion

CHAPTER 8 Extensive Surgery for Thyroid Cancer: Central Neck Dissection

Introduction

Incidence and prevalence

Detection of lymph node metastasis

Operative considerations for central neck dissection

Therapeutic central neck dissection

Prophylactic central neck dissection (see Video 8.1)

Reoperative surgery for persistent/recurrent disease

Complications

Conclusion

CHAPTER 9 Extensive Surgery for Thyroid Cancer: Lateral Neck Dissection

Introduction

Definitions

Indications

Basic technique: selective neck dissection levels III and IV (Videos 9.1, 9.2)

Complications

Tips and tricks

Conclusion

CHAPTER 10 Surgery for Retrosternal/Upper Mediastinal Thyroid/Parathyroid Disease

Introduction

Thyroid

Parathyroid

Conclusion

CHAPTER 11 Reoperative Thyroid Surgery

Introduction

Anatomical considerations

Recurrent benign disease

Recurrent malignant disease

Investigations and evaluation

Surgical principles

Surgical complications

Conclusion

CHAPTER 12 How to Use Energy Devices and their Potential Hazards

Introduction

Radiofrequency (see Video 12.1, 12.2)

Harmonic® technology (Video 12.3)

Evidence from the literature

PART III Intraoperative Complications: The ‘Classic’ Issues

CHAPTER 13 The Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve

Introduction

SURGICAL ANATOMY

Rates of iatrogenic recurrent laryngeal nerve damage

Visualization and approach to the recurrent laryngeal nerve during surgery

Landmarks for locating the recurrent laryngeal nerve

Damage to the recurrent laryngeal nerve

Voice changes after recurrent laryngeal nerve injury

Intraoperative neural electrophysiological monitoring of the recurrent laryngeal nerve

CHAPTER 14 The Superior Laryngeal Nerve

Introduction

Anatomy and physiology

Anatomical variation

Nerve monitoring

Surgical approach

Injury

Rehabilitation

Conclusion

CHAPTER 15 The Parathyroid Glands in Thyroid Surgery

Introduction

Parathyroid preservation during thyroidectomy

Risk of postoperative hypocalcaemia

Permanent hypoparathyroidism

Conclusion

CHAPTER 16 Cosmetic Complications

Introduction

Incision location

Hypertrophic or hyperpigmented scarring

Skin closure

Drain placement

Conclusion

PART IV Intraoperative Complications: The Rare Ones

CHAPTER 17 Management and Prevention of Laryngotracheal and Oesophageal Injuries in Thyroid Surgery

Introduction

Injuries to the laryngotracheal complex

Injuries to the cervical oesophagus

Conclusion

CHAPTER 18 Injury of the Major Vessels

Anatomy of the great vessels of the neck

Management of intraoperative haemorrhage: general principles

Management of postoperative haemorrhage: general principles

Management of tracheo-innominate fistula

Management of carotid artery rupture

Management of internal jugular bleeding

Management of a sentinel bleeding event

Prevention

Conclusion

CHAPTER 19 Lesions Following Lateral Neck Dissection: Phrenic, Vagus and Accessory Nerve Injury, and Chyle Leak

Introduction

Lymph node dissection in papillary thyroid carcinoma

Complications

Conclusion

CHAPTER 20 Amiodarone-induced Thyrotoxicosis and Thyroid Storm

Introduction

Structure of amiodarone: similarity to thyroid hormone

Pharmacology

Amiodarone-induced thyroid dysfunctions

Epidemiology of amiodarone-induced thyroid dysfunctions

Predictors of amiodarone-induced thyrotoxicosis

Monitoring thyroid function during amiodarone therapy

Pathogenesis of amiodarone-induced thyrotoxicosis

Clinical features of amiodarone-induced thyrotoxicosis

Therapeutic approach

Thyroid storm

PART V Postoperative Complications Requiring Urgent Treatment

CHAPTER 21 Respiratory Failure Following Extubation

Introduction

Aetiology

Preoperative assessment

Anesthesia considerations

CHAPTER 22 Postoperative Bleeding

Introduction

Timing, risk factors and implications

Diagnosis and management

Prevention

Conclusion

CHAPTER 23 The Occurrence and Management of Pneumothorax in Thyroid Surgery

Introduction

Pathophysiology

Clinical manifestations

Diagnosis

Management

Conclusion

PART VI Postoperative Complications

CHAPTER 24 The Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve

Introduction

Pathophysiology

Evaluation of vocal fold hypomobility

Treatment options

Conclusion

CHAPTER 25 The Parathyroids

Introduction

Parathyroid physiology and calcium metabolism

Surgical hypoparathyroidism: definition, causes and classification

Hypoparathyroidism: evaluation and clinical manifestations

Predictive factors of postsurgical hypoparathyroidism

Prevention of postsurgical hypoparathyroidism

Management of postsurgical hypoparathyroidism

Conclusion

CHAPTER 26 The Rare Ones: Horner’s Syndrome, Complications from Surgical Positioning and Post-sternotomy Complications

Introduction

Horner’s syndrome

Complications from surgical positioning

Post-sternotomy complications

CHAPTER 27 Late Complications of Thyroid Surgery

Chylous fistula

Delayed hypocalcaemia following thyroidectomy

Thyroid storm

Voice and swallowing dysfunction after thyroidectomy

CHAPTER 28 Post-thyroidectomy Distress: Voice and Swallowing Impairment Following Thyroidectomy

Introduction

Issues of voice impairment

Issues of swallowing impairment

Conclusion

PART VII New Issues: Complications Following Minimally Invasive and Robotic Techniques

CHAPTER 29 Minimally Invasive Techniques Performed Through the Neck Access

Introduction

Postoperative haematoma

Skin damage/cosmetic issues

Injuries to the trachea and the carotid artery

Conclusion

CHAPTER 30 Minimally Invasive Techniques Performed Through Other Accesses

Introduction

Axillary endoscopic thyroidectomy using CO2 insufflation

Breast endoscopic thyroidectomy using CO2 insufflation

Axillo-bilateral breast approach with CO2 insufflation

Bilateral axillo-breast approach with CO2 insufflation

Gasless transaxillary endoscopic thyroidectomy

Complications

Conclusion

CHAPTER 31 Complications of Robotic Thyroidectomy

Introduction

Complications of robotic axillary thyroidectomy

Complications of robotic facelift thyroidectomy

Remote-access surgery: general

Conclusion

PART VIII Iatrogenic Hypothyroidism, Metabolic Effects of Post-thyroidectomy Thyroid Hormone Replacement, and Quality of Life after Thyroid Surgery

CHAPTER 32 Iatrogenic Hypothyroidism and Its Sequelae

Introduction

Aetiology

Clinical presentation

Physical findings

Laboratory tests

Instrumental changes

Particular conditions of hypothyroidism

Diagnosis

TREATMENT

CHAPTER 33 Quality of Life after Thyroid Surgery

Introduction

Quality of life in patients treated with thyroidectomy for benign thyroid diseases

Quality of life in patients treated with thyroidectomy for thyroid cancer

Conclusion and perspective

Index

Dedication

“To Charles Proye,

A Friend,

A Mentor”“To our patients,

from whom we have learned so much

after being given the privilege of caring for them”.

This edition first published 2013, © 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Thyroid surgery : best practice and managing complications / edited by Paolo Miccoli ... [et al.].p. cm.Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-470-65950-2 (hardback : alk. paper) – ISBN 978-1-118-44469-6 (epub) – ISBN 978-1-118-44470-2 (mobi) – ISBN 978-1-118-44471-9 (epdf/ebook) – ISBN 978-1-118-44483-2 (obook) 1. Thyroid gland–Surgery. 2. Thyroid gland–Diseases–Treatment. 3. Thyroid gland–Diseases–Prevention. I. Miccoli, Paolo, MD.RD599.T498 2013617.5′39–dc23

2012030208

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books.

Cover image: iStock © JanullaCover design by Andy Meaden

Contributors

Eran E. Alon MDAttending PhysicianDepartment of Otolaryngology Head and Neck SurgeryChaim Sheba Medical CenterTel Hoshomer, IsraelMoran AmitDepartment of OtolaryngologyHead and Neck Surgery, and Maxillofacial SurgeryTel Aviv Sourasky Medical CentreTel Aviv, IsraelPeter Angelos MD, PhDProfessor and Chief of Endocrine SurgeryDepartment of SurgeryUniversity of Chicago Medical CenterChicago, IL, USAAlessandro Antonelli MDAssistant Professor of Internal MedicineUniversity of PisaPisa, ItalyPiero Berti MDAssociate Professor of SurgeryUniversity of PisaPisa, ItalyFausto Bogazzi MD, PhDAssociate Professor of EndocrinologyDepartment of Endocrinology and MetabolismUniversity of PisaPisa, ItalyDaniel F. Brasnu MDProfessor of Otolaryngology Head and Neck SurgeryUniversity of Paris René DescartesChief of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery and Head of the Cancer PoleGeorges Pompidou European HospitalParis, FranceChristopher K. Breuer MDDepartment of Surgery, Yale University School of MedicineYale Pediatric Thyroid Center, Yale University School of MedicineNew Haven, CT, USALuisella Cianferotti MD, PhDResearch and Clinical AssistantDepartment of EndocrinologyUnit of Endocrinology and Bone MetabolismUniversity of PisaPisa, ItalyQuan-Yang Duh MD, FACSVeterans Affairs Medical CenterSan Francisco, CA, USAPoupak Fallahi MDResearch and Clinical AssistantUniversity of PisaPisa, ItalyDan M. Fliss MDProfessor and ChairmanDepartment of OtolaryngologyHead and Neck Surgery, and Maxillofacial SurgeryTel Aviv Sourasky Medical CentreTel Aviv, IsraelJeremy L. Freeman MD, FRCSC, FACSProfessor of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck SurgeryProfessor of Surgery, University of TorontoTemmy Latner/Dynacare Chair in Head and Neck OncologyOtolaryngologist-in-Chief, Mount Sinai HospitalToronto, ON, CanadaDavid Goldenberg MD, FACSProfessor of Surgery and OncologyDirector of Head and Neck SurgeryDivision of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck SurgeryPennsylvania State UniversityMilton S. Hershey Medical CenterHershey, PA, USAClive S. Grant MDProfessor of SurgeryCollege of MedicineMayo ClinicRochester, MN, USANeil D. Gross MD, FACSAssociate ProfessorDepartment of Otolaryngology Head and Neck SurgeryOregon Health and Science UniversityKnight Cancer InstitutePortland, OR, USADana M. Hartl MD, PhDChief, Thyroid Surgery UnitDepartment of Head and Neck OncologyInstitut Gustave RoussyVillejuif, FranceTammy M. Holm MD, PhDResidentDepartment of General SurgeryBrigham and Women’s HospitalHarvard Medical SchoolBoston, MA, USAJeffrey J. Houlton MDDepartment of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck SurgeryUniversity of Cincinnati Academic Health CenterCincinnati, OH, USAWilliam B. Inabnet III MDEugene W. Friedman Professor of SurgeryChief, Division of Metabolic, Endocrine and Minimally Invasive SurgeryMount Sinai Medical CenterNew York, NY, USAN. Gopalakrishna Iyer MBBS, PhD, FRCSConsultant Head and Neck SurgeonDepartment of Surgical OncologyNational Cancer Centre, SingaporeEmad H. Kandil MD, FACSEdward G. Schlieder Chair in Surgical OncologyAssistant Professor of Surgery, Otolaryngology and MedicineChief, Endocrine Surgery SectionDivision of Endocrine and Oncological SurgeryDepartment of SurgeryTulane University, School of MedicineNew Orleans, LA, USALukas H. Kus MD, MScResident Physician, PGY3Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck SurgeryUniversity of TorontoToronto, ON, CanadaFrancesco Latrofa MDDepartment of Endocrinology and MetabolismUniversity Hospital of PisaPisa, ItalyRobert Lindau MDAssistant Professor, Division of Head and Neck Surgical Oncology University of Nebraska Medical Center and Methodist Estabrook Cancer CenterOmaha, NE, USADaniel D. Lydiatt DDS MD, FACSProfessor, Division of Head and Neck Surgical OncologyUniversity of Nebraska Medical Center andMethodist Estabrook Cancer CenterOmaha, NE, USADennis R. Maceri MDAssociate ProfessorDepartment of OtolaryngologyHead and Neck SurgeryKeck School of MedicineUniversity of Southern CaliforniaLos Angeles, CA, USAClaudio Marcocci MDProfessor of EndocrinologyDepartment of EndocrinologyUnit of Endocrinology and Bone MetabolismUniversity of PisaPisa, ItalyEnio Martino MDProfessor of EndocrinologyDepartment of Endocrinology and MetabolismUniversity of PisaPisa, ItalyValeria Matteucci MDSurgical ResidentDepartment of SurgeryUniversity of PisaPisa, ItalyMario MiccoliDSTAT, PhDDepartment of Experimental PathologyUniversity of PisaPisa, ItalyMira Milas MDProfessor of SurgeryDirector, The Thyroid CenterDepartment of Endocrine SurgeryEndocrinology and Metabolism InstituteCleveland ClinicCleveland, OH, USAZvonimir Milas MDAssistant Professor of SurgeryDepartment of Head and Neck SurgeryUniversity of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer CenterOrlando, FL, USAHaïtham Mirghani MDThyroid Surgery UnitDepartment of Head and Neck OncologyInstitut Gustave RoussyVillejuif, FranceElliot J. Mitmaker MD, MSc, FRCSCAssistant Professor of SurgeryDepartment of SurgeryMcGill University Health CentreMcGill UniversityMontreal, QC, CanadaMichele P. Morrison DOCommander, MC, USNDepartment of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck SurgeryNaval Medical Center PortsmouthPortsmouth, VA, USAKee-Hyun Nam MD, PhDAssociate ProfessorDepartment of SurgeryYonsei University College of MedicineSeoul, KoreaSalem I. Noureldine MDClinical Research FellowDivision of Endocrine and Oncological SurgeryDepartment of SurgeryTulane University, School of MedicineNew Orleans, LA, USASara I. Pai MD, PhD, FACSAssociate ProfessorDepartments of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery and OncologyJohns Hopkins School of MedicineBaltimore MD, USAGregory N. Postma MDDirector, Center for Voice, Airway and Swallowing DisordersProfessor, Department of OtolaryngologyGeorgia Health Sciences UniversityAugusta, GA, USALourdes Quintanilla-Dieck MDResidentDepartment of Otolaryngology Head and Neck SurgeryOregon Health and Science UniversityPortland, OR, USAGregory W. Randolph MD, FACSDirector, General and Thyroid Surgical DivisionsMassachusetts Eye and Ear InfirmaryMember Endocrine Surgical ServiceMassachusetts General HospitalAssociate Professor Otolaryngology Head and Neck SurgeryHarvard Medical SchoolBoston, MA, USAScott A. Rivkees MDDepartment of PediatricsUniversity of FloridaGainesville, FL, USAKamran Samakar MDDepartment of SurgeryLoma Linda University School of MedicineLoma Linda, CA, USAMartin SchlumbergerChief, RadiodiagnosticsNuclear Medicine and Endocrine OncologyInstitut Gustave RoussyVillejuif, FranceAshok R. ShahaProfessor of Surgery and Jatin P. Shah Chair in Head and Neck SurgeryHead and Neck ServiceDepartment of SurgeryMemorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer CenterNew York, NY, USAMaisie Shindo MDProfessor of OtolaryngologyDepartment of OtolarygnologyDirector of Head and Neck Endocrine SurgeryDirector of Thyroid and Parathyroid CenterOregon Health and Science UniversityPortland, OR, USAAlfred Simental MD, FACSDepartment of Otolaryngology Head Neck SurgeryLoma Linda University School of MedicineLoma Linda, CA, USAMichael C. Singer MDDepartment of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck SurgeryGeorgia Health Sciences UniversityAugusta, GA, USADavid L. Steward MDProfessor of OtolaryngologyDepartment of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck SurgeryUniversity of Cincinnati College of MedicineCincinnati, OH, USALuca Tomisti MDAssistant ProfessorDepartment of Endocrinology and MetabolismUniversity of PisaPisa, ItalyRalph P. Tufano MD, FACSAssociate Professor, Otolaryngology – Head & Neck SurgeryDirector of Thyroid and Parathyroid SurgeryDivision of Head and Neck Cancer SurgeryDepartment of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck SurgeryJohns Hopkins School of MedicineBaltimore MD, USARobert Udelsman MDDepartment of Surgery, Yale University School of MedicineYale Pediatric Thyroid Center, Yale University School of MedicineNew Haven, CT, USAMark L. Urken MD, FACSProfessor of OtolaryngologyDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology – Head and Neck SurgeryAlbert Einstein College of MedicineDirector of Head and Neck SurgeryContinuum Cancer Centers of New YorkDepartment of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck SurgeryBeth Israel Medical CenterNew York, NY, USAPaolo VittiProfessor of EndocrinologyDepartment of Endocrinology and MetabolismUniversity Hospital of PisaPisa, ItalyJason Wallen MD, FACS, FCCPDepartment of Cardiovascular and Thoracic SurgeryLoma Linda University School of MedicineLoma Linda, CA, USARichelle T. Williams MDSurgery ResidentDepartment of SurgeryUniversity of Chicago Medical CenterChicago, IL, USA

Foreword

Paolo Miccoli is a pioneer. He stepped into new and unknown territory well ahead of his time, sharing the sentiment of adventure and scientific rigor that surrounds any surgical innovation: in his hands, thyroid surgery shifted away from major surgical intervention towards minimally invasive techniques.

Paolo is an old friend and a brother from Hippocratic genealogy: we both participated in the surgical paternal mentorship of the lamented master, Charles Proye, whose memory this book is dedicated.

When he informed me about the project of writing a textbook specifically dedicated to the joy and pain of ­thyroid and parathyroid surgery, I expressed to him my support and interest, and it was a pleasure to be the first to appreciate the final product.

Paolo Miccoli knows what he is talking about, something that emanates from the solid rock of his experience. Furthermore, the contributors to this textbook have been carefully chosen from among the finest internationally renowned experts in the field, which, I bet, are new to very few readers.

This book encapsulates, into a concentrated nutshell, everything that the literature may offer on thyroid and parathyroid surgery, with state-of-the-art discussions around hot topics. Chapters are diligently organized and linked to each other in order to collectively drive the reader’s attention.

The format is elegant, agile and easy to read, with both excellent iconography and videos illustrating new technologies and techniques, such as robotic and remote site (transaxillary, retroauricolar) ­thyroidectomy.

Take time to read it carefully; and appreciate the construct of the book as a snapshot of a surgeon’s life: the basic epidemiological and statistical studies, the words of wisdom on how to read between the lines when studying the literature and critically reviewing the published evidence, the juvenile enthusiasm with which novel technologies and techniques are embraced, the reflections of the mature surgeon when reviewing his/her experience, and the overt discussions on the most inevitable certitude of our job … the surgical complications.

Jacques MarescauxMD, FACS, (Hon) FRCS, (Hon) FJSES

Preface

After faithful adherence to the surgical principles described by Theodor Kocher more than a century ago, the field of endocrine neck surgery has witnessed ­monumental change over the past 15 years. Fundamental ­technological advances (including the introduction of high-resolution endoscopy, nerve monitoring and advanced energy devices, to mention but a few) have been coupled with some subtle and some more substantial modifications in the approach to surgical thyroid disease.

While the safety of a thyroidectomy has steadily improved (both with regard to mortality as well as nerve injuries and parathyroid dysfunction), there continue to be unanticipated and unwanted adverse outcomes at the hands of well-meaning surgeons. In addition, the proliferation of novel approaches, particularly those that employ remote access points, has introduced new potential complications, some of which may be serious.

The pursuit of a text exclusively focused on the prevention and management of complications associated with thyroid and parathyroid surgery is therefore timely and appropriate. This represents the first such undertaking, and is made all the more robust by the dual-national ­editorship, and the multi-national authorship, which includes thought leaders from most of the important endocrine centers from around the world. Each of these authors has embraced this project with tremendous enthusiasm, reflecting the widespread consensus that this book is certain to have relevance within the scope of the average surgeon’s endocrine practice. Thoughtful ­comments and wisdom derived from many decades of collective experience are supplemented by superior artwork and photographs, and professional-quality videos.

We trust you will find many pearls and clinically meaningful suggestions which will be both enlightening and serve to reinforce existing techniques. All of the editors welcome formal or informal feedback about this book, so that future editions will be even more useful to practitioners across the globe.

About the Companion Website

This book is accompanied by a companion website: www.wiley.com/go/miccoli/thyroidThe website includes 20 videos showing procedures described in the book.All videos are referenced in the text where you see this logo:

List of video clips

Video 5.1:

Conventional near-total thyroidectomy

Video 5.2:

Total thyroidectomy with intraoperative nerve monitoring

Video 6.1:

Near-total right lobectomy

Video 6.2:

Step 1: Incision and access to the right ­thyroid bed

Video 6.3:

Step 2: Section of the upper pedicle

Video 6.4:

Identification of the recurrent nerve and the parathyroids

Video 6.5:

Extraction of the thyroid lobe outside the neck and completion of the lobectomy

Video 6.6:

How to recognize the ‘triangle of Miccoli–Berti’

Video 6.7:

Suture of the access

Video 6.8:

Real-time total thyroidectomy with the MIVAT technique

Video 7.1:

Robot-assisted transaxillary thyroidectomy

Video 7.2:

Robotic facelift thyroidectomy

Video 8.1:

Video-assisted central neck dissection

Video 9.1:

Left selective neck dissection levels III–IV

Video 9.2:

Modified right lateral neck dissection

Video 12.1:

Total lobectomy with the Ligasure Small Jaw™

Video 12.2:

Total thyroidectomy with radiofrequency-based technology

Video 12.3:

Total thyroidectomy with the Harmonic Focus®

Video 13.1:

Unusual presentations of inferior laryngeal nerves

Video 29.1:

Intraoperative management of a bleeding from a right upper pedicle during a MIVAT procedure

PART I

Epidemiology and Acceptable Rates of Complications Following Thyroid and Parathyroid Surgery

CHAPTER 1

Incidence of Morbidity Following Thyroid Surgery: Acceptable Morbidity Rates

Paolo Miccoli,1Michele N. Minuto2and Mario Miccoli3

1 Department of Surgery, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy2 Department of Surgical Sciences (DISC), University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy3 Department of Experimental Pathology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

Introduction

The issue of complications in surgery is a very difficult topic to deal with. Few surgeons speak openly about their problems, many are tempted to under-rate their own incidence, and even debates in the most important ­international circles about complications may fail to fully encompass the scope of the problem.

Unfortunately, since the dawn of surgery, ­complications have been inescapable, although undesired, elements of the surgical discipline but they have also allowed surgery itself to constantly improve.

In the new century, surgeons should deal with patients undergoing surgery under their care in a ­completely ­different way. The road leading to the ­operation itself starts well before surgery, when the patient is informed about his operation, the way it will be performed and the possibility and incidence of ­relevant complications. The number of complications that a surgeon generally shares with the patient before surgery requires judgement; informed consent should be obtained after a thorough discussion of the common problems that might occur after surgery, starting from the possibility of a keloid scar (an event that is usually not related to the surgeon) to intraoperative or ­postoperative death, more often ­unrelated to surgery but due to other co-morbidities.

In between these two exceptional events, there is the real intraoperative complication that is directly or ­indirectly caused by the surgeon (iatrogenic) but that is not ­necessarily due to negligence.

Modern surgeons should be aware of how to deal with the complication and therefore instruct and start to treat the patient themselves or, at the very least, to correctly refer the patient to a relevant specialist.

In thyroid surgery, complications that may arise after surgery may vary from those that might be immediately life-threatening but resolve after proper treatment, often leaving no sequelae, to relatively minor problems that are immediately evident and can therefore cause significant impairment of the patient’s quality of life. The management of those patients experiencing post-thyroidectomy sequelae can be difficult, and this book contains suggestions to help every surgeon properly manage their own patients both intra- and postoperatively, helping them to determine the possible options to deal with a selected complication.

Morbidity of thyroid surgery

Every experienced surgeon is aware that the incidence of intra- or postoperative complications in thyroid surgery is relatively common, starting from the ‘frequent’ postoperative hypoparathyroidism (transient in the vast majority of cases) that in some reports has a frequency as high as 53% [1, 2].

The relative rarity is also dependent upon the method of analysis: although the single morbidity (e.g. permanent recurrent nerve injury) may be uncommon, when ­looking at the total incidence of the complications as a whole, the incidence of morbidity rises sharply. The rarity of a complication is also strictly related to the overall activity of the surgical practice (and therefore to the experience of the surgeon); a surgeon performing 10 ­thyroidectomies every week may see an injury of the recurrent nerve more often than another good surgeon who performs 60 thyroidectomies per year, even if the first is unquestionably more experienced than the ­latter.

The literature contains many series with an almost 0% incidence of complications that cannot be considered straightforward. How can this happen? Every ­experienced thyroid surgeon is perfectly aware of the issues behind such a low incidence of complications, but an ­inexperienced one might be misled by the results, and legal operators and lawyers might use them to manipulate facts, twisting the relatively common events and turning them to an evidence of malpractice.

We would therefore like to address the complications issue in a different way than that of a single experience reported in literature, aiming to show every surgeon how to interpret the commonly reported results, and how a sound and thorough study of complications should be conceived, in our opinion.

When dealing with a specific complication of thyroid surgery, it is necessary to contrast our own incidence of the single event with the general incidence as reported in literature; this comparison should be made with series that are similar in terms of numbers. Going deeper into the issue, a 0% incidence of a selected ­complication in a series of 100 patients is a good result indeed, but if the event in question has a very low ­incidence, this does not represent a significantly different result from that obtained by another surgeon who reports a single one.

This leads to the issue of statistically significant ­numbers, which will be better developed later in this chapter. Due to the fact that a complication is a relatively uncommon event, when analysing the results reported by other authors, the series should have sufficient numbers to have statistical relevance. It is easy to understand that a 0% incidence of permanent recurrent nerve lesions, reported in a prospective series of 33 patients in a study designed to investigate the oncological thoroughness of minimally invasive video-assisted thyroidectomy versus ­conventional thyroidectomy, cannot be interpreted as a statement that the rate of recurrent nerve palsy in thyroid surgery for cancer should be 0, for example. Since the paper was not planned to investigate the incidence of complications, the numbers are clearly too limited for this. Nevertheless, it was necessary to report this result in the paper, since it has an important clinical (but no ­statistical) value.

Further in this chapter, we give the readers some ­information about how to interpret statistical data from the literature, and introduce some basic statistical notions on uncommon events such as surgical complications. These simple concepts should be the basis of any audit conducted within a surgical unit.

Acceptable rates of thyroid surgery complications

We will hereafter deal only with the two principal complications of this surgery: recurrent nerve injury (RNI) and hypoparathyroidism. All other issues will be thoroughly analysed in the relevant chapters. The data reported will be drawn from the most important experiences (strictly in terms of number of patients analysed) available from the literature.

Injury of the inferior laryngeal/recurrent nerve

This complication is generally considered the worst for its potential impact on the patient immediately after surgery and for its significant consequences on the patient’s future quality of life. The event causes a major impairment in one of two situations: the voice (with the onset of typical dysphonia) or the ventilation, and the related symptoms are ­generally present in an inverse ratio. When analysing the incidence reported by various authors, the reader should be aware of the following parameters.

The series should take into consideration a significant number of patients (see after in this chapter), and one should be aware that the incidence reported can be obtained from the total number of patients in the study or from the total number of nerves at risk (that may ­double the sample, if only patients undergoing a total ­thyroidectomy have been selected for the analysis).

Is the series mixing cases of thyroidectomies for benign and malignant diseases and primary and reoperative ­surgery? The incidence of a RNI (as well as of hypoparathyroidism) is invariably higher when a thyroidectomy for cancer (possibly associated with a central neck dissection) is performed or when the operation comes after a previous surgery. The morbidity is also significantly increased when performing a thyroidectomy for a particularly aggressive cancer subtype; the more aggressive the tumor, the higher the possibility of RNI, as described by a multicentre study that includes almost 15,000 patients [3].

Have the authors reported whether their results were calculated on the basis of routine postoperative laryngoscopy or only on the basis of the postoperative discomfort or voice alteration of the patient? It is well known that a RNI can exist also in the presence of a remarkably normal voice. Also, a preoperative laryngoscopy should be ­performed in every patient undergoing thyroidectomy, since evidence of preoperative paralysis of a vocal cord is present in as many as 1.8% of patients; although in the majority of them it relates to previous surgery, the rate of this unexpected finding is still significant (six out of 14 patients without any previous surgery in the series described by Echternach

et al

.) [4]. When either pre- or postoperative laryngoscopy is absent, the real incidence of RNI will be significantly affected, decreasing when a postoperative laryngoscopy is not routinely performed and, on the other hand, unjustly assigning complications to the surgeon when such a preoperative examination has not been done.

Finally, when reporting the incidence of RNI, one should always check if the patients have been followed up for at least 6 (or 12) months, to have the possibility of dividing the transient lesions (that last for 12 months at the longest and then spontaneously resolve, leaving no sequelae) from the permanent ones.

An analysis of selected papers dealing with more than 500 cases [3–12] is summarized in Table 1.1. These represent the most reliable papers dealing with the incidence of complications following thyroid surgery. These published data allow one to show either a high or a low incidence of RNI following thyroid surgery; it is immediately evident that the results demonstrate wide variability in the ­incidence reported by experienced thyroid surgeons.

Table 1.1 Reported incidence of transient and permanent RNI in studies considering more than 500 patients.

Author

Patients/nerves at risk

RNI (transient/permanent)

Lo

et al

. [11]

500/787

5.2/0.9

Toniato

et al

. [7]

†

504/1008

2.2

Chiang

et al

. [10]

521/704

5.1/0.9

Steurer

et al

. [12]

608/1080

3.4/0.3 (benign disease)

7.2/1.2 (malignant disease)

Lefevre

et al

. [9]

§

685/n.a.

n.a./1.5

Efremidou

et al

. [6]*

932/1864

1.3/0.2

Echternach

et al

. [4]

1001/1365

6.6

Bergamaschi

et al

. [5]

1163/2010

2.9/0.3

Thomusch

et al

. [8]*

7266/13436

2.1/1.1

Rosato

et al

. [3]

14934/n.a.

3.4/1.4

*Only patients undergoing surgery for benign diseases.†Only patients undergoing surgery for malignant diseases.§Only patients undergoing surgery for recurrent thyroid disease.n.a., not analysed.

Recurrent nerve injury has an incidence ranging from 0.3% described by Bergamaschi et al. [5] to 6.6% reported by Echternach et al. [4]. When we analyse their results more carefully, we can observe that Bergamaschi et al. report on a huge series (1192 operations and 2010 nerves at risk), dominated by benign disease (>90%) and ­reflecting a majority of patients who underwent less than total thyroidectomy (622), an operation that is less ­morbid than a total thyroidectomy. In contrast, the series reported by Echternach et al. reveals a significantly higher rate of RNI, but this result does not take into account the rate of transient and permanent lesions, since it does not have laryngoscopy follow-up 6 months after the operation, and therefore it cannot be used for a proper analysis of permanent RNI. In between these two extremes, the real and expected incidence of RNI exists.

When we consider the different series homogeneously, we can see how the reported incidence of RNI is similar for any experienced thyroid surgeon. In the studies reporting exclusively on benign diseases, the incidence appears very low (0.2% according to Efremidou et al. [6], who report their results on almost 2000 nerves at risk), whereas Toniato et al. [7], who describe surgeries for ­thyroid cancer only, report a 2.2% incidence of the same complication. To our knowledge, no study including a significant number of patients undergoing thyroid ­surgery for any indication (arguably consisting of more than 1000 nerves at risk, according to the authors of this chapter) reports a global incidence of RNI of less than 1%, whereas series electively dealing with surgery for benign non-recurrent thyroid diseases can obtain (but do not necessarily achieve) significantly better results. This result can be associated with a more or less aggressive surgery demanded by the nature of the disease itself. To support this speculation, we can observe that many large series still report a high incidence of less than total ­thyroidectomies performed when benign thyroid disease is preoperatively diagnosed, whereas when describing surgery for thyroid cancer not only are total thyroidectomies performed but they can be variously associated with central neck dissections. The results obtained by Rosato et al. [3] describe a significantly higher incidence of RNI when surgery is performed for an aggressive cancer (­papillary and follicular < medullary < anaplastic), confirming the idea that the more aggressive the surgery is, the higher the possibility of an iatrogenic lesionis.

In conclusion, the incidence of RNI is indeed very low when a thyroidectomy is performed for a benign thyroid disease (generally less than 1%), but higher-risk groups exist that contribute to a significant rise in its incidence. These groups, as demonstrated by large experiences, include patients undergoing surgery for thyroid ­malignancy and those undergoing surgery for any ­recurrent thyroid disease. In these populations, the ­incidence of RNI is generally over 1% and can be as high as 2.2%. This is particularly true for postoperative hypoparathyroidism, which is well supported by results obtained from the literature.

Hypoparathyroidism

As for RNI, some general points should be raised before thoroughly analysing the incidence of this complication.

Temporary hypoparathyroidism is not an uncommon event, especially in selected situations such as surgery for thyroid cancer, often associated with central lymph node dissection, or surgery for Graves’ disease. Therefore, one should determine whether the experience reported is composed of patients selected for a certain diagnosis or if the different indications have been co-mingled, ­significantly affecting the true incidence of the event.

Many papers dealing with complications fail to ­distinguish between different types of surgeries such as lobectomy and total thyroidectomy, alone or associated with various neck dissections: this is another important issue to verify since, as already stated, different ­operations have significantly different results.

How do the authors define the term ‘hypoparathyroidism’? Do they refer to a biochemical finding (this ­significantly increases the incidence of the problem) or to the symptoms triggered by the hypocalcaemia (a rarer circumstance)?

Table 1.2 Reported incidence of transient and permanent hypoparathyroidism in studies considering more than 500 patients.

Author

Patients

Hypoparathyroidism (transient/permanent)

Toniato

et al

. [7]

†

504

6.3

Lefevre

et al

. [9]

§

685

5/2.5

Efremidou

et al

. [6]*

932

7.3/0.3

Bergamaschi

et al

. [5]

1163

20/4

Thomusch

et al

. [8]*

7266

6.4/1.5

Rosato

et al

. [3]

14934

8.3/1.7

*Only patients undergoing surgery for benign diseases.†Only patients undergoing surgery for malignant diseases.§Only patients undergoing surgery for recurrent thyroid disease.

The results obtained from the most important papers published in the literature [3,5–9] are summarized in Table 1.2.

Hypoparathyroidism, including both its transient and permanent forms, is a more common issue following ­thyroid surgery than RNI, and can therefore be better analysed through series less important in strictly numerical terms. Its occurrence is reported to be between 0.3% and 6.3% (permanent hypoparathyroidism), and between 5% and 22% (transient hypoparathyroidism).

The lowest incidence of permanent ­hypoparathyroidism in recent literature has been described in the study by Efremidou et al. [6], that focuses exclusively on patients with benign thyroid disease, whereas the highest (6.6%), reported by Toniato et al. [7], considers only patients undergoing surgery for malignant disease. In between these extreme results lies the true incidence of this ­complication, that is generally present in more than 1% of cases and is described to be significantly higher in some specific groups (higher-risk groups), such as patients undergoing more extensive surgery than total thyroidectomy alone (e.g. when central neck dissection is ­performed) and in patients undergoing reoperations.

A thorough analysis of the literature can easily demonstrate many studies reporting an incidence of ­permanent hypoparathyroidism close to 0%. These studies generally aim at demonstrating the efficacy of the parathyroid autograft in preventing permanent ­hypocalcaemia (dealt with in Chapter 15), and include insufficient patients from which to draw conclusions on the true ­incidence of this morbidity. In older studies reporting a very low ­incidence of permanent hypoparathyroidism, this result may be affected by a high incidence of less than total ­thyroidectomies, that were performed with the ­purpose of obtaining a lower complication rate than that obtained with a thorough extracapsular total ­thyroidectomy.

In conclusion, when a comprehensive analysis of the results reported in the literature is performed, the ­evidence is that every experienced thyroid surgeon, ­treating every kind of thyroid pathology, cannot obtain a complication rate of less than 1% for either permanent RNI or hypoparathyroidism. The literature can also ­demonstrate that the incidence rate of such ­complications can be higher than 6%, in particular situations, even for the experienced thyroid surgeon.

After this review of the literature, aimed at ascertaining the average incidence of the most specific adverse events after thyroid surgery, we give below a quick explanation of the basis of a proper statistical analysis, and how it should be conducted, when dealing with an uncommon or rare event.

Statistical and epidemiological analysis to study the complications of thyroid surgery

Surgical complications are relatively uncommon and this should be kept in mind when a study is designed to ­analyse the outcome of an operation, but also when a comparison between surgical techniques is needed. Even the rarest events should be analysed through the ­inferential statistics and/or a thorough epidemiological analysis, that can be more or less complicated. For ­example, when two different techniques need to be ­compared, one should consider ­epidemiological data (gender, age of patients), temporal circumstances influencing surgery (different surgeons operating, different techniques or instruments), and other factors. A sporadic event should never be statistically ­analysed on the grounds of its rarity; on the contrary, a more careful and precise analysis is needed to obtain ­reliable results.

What is immediately evident to the expert’s eye is the absence of a correct analysis of the statistical power in the vast majority of studies published in the common ­literature, that are therefore generally lacking any analysis on the numbers necessary to correctly draw statistically relevant conclusions on the results reported. In the same way, only a few studies report analysis of the correct mathematical functions needed to correctly investigate the issue being studied.

What exactly is the ‘statistical power’ of the study? To answer this question, it is necessary to introduce the ‘type II error’, the error of failing to reject a null hypothesis when the alternative hypothesis is true (in less technical but more friendly words, it is the possibility of obtaining a ‘false-negative’ result). The opposite of this situation, or ‘the right conclusion on the correct statistical ­significance’, is strictly related to the statistical power of the analysis, that defines when the right conclusions can be drawn (‘true positive’ or, more technically, when the null ­hypothesis can be correctly rejected).

In strictly mathematical systems, the type II error is labelled with the β symbol, and has a value between 0 and 1. The statistical power is its complementary, as expressed by the formula:

Statistical power =1-β

The statistical power is conventionally considered ­adequate when 1-β ≥0.8, and can be calculated in two different ways: ex-ante (Latin for ‘before’) or ex-post (after).

The analysis ex-ante allows determination of the ­number of subjects necessary to draw statistically relevant conclusions for a planned experiment or study before this has started. This analysis gives important information to the investigators about the feasibility of the research, and the time and resources needed for the study to be completed. On the other hand, the ex-post analysis is made after the enrollment of the subjects once the study has finished, and its rationale is to verify if the sample in analysis is sufficient to guarantee an appropriate statistical result.

The statistical power can be obtained using either nominal variables (e.g. the presence or absence of an anticipated complication) or continuous variables (e.g. operative time, incision length). The different statistical tests have their own formulas to determine the statistical power.

Examples of how to calculate the statistical power

We will assess the statistical power of an analysis ­performed to evaluate whether two different surgical techniques have significantly different complications.

A preliminary evaluation revealed that the expected incidence of complications for the two different ­techniques is 2% for the traditional operation and 1% for the new one. When dealing with such rare events, the number needed for a thorough statistical analysis will be extremely high. Different tests can be used to determine the statistical power for our study, and we will use in this example the free software ‘R’, version 2.12.1, available from the following internet address: www.r-project.org/.

The lowest power requested is 0.8, the lowest statistical threshold is generally 0.05, and the expected ­complications for the two different operations are 1 (p1) and 2 (p2)%, respectively.

On the ‘R’ software we will insert the following ­instructions:

Let’s now assume that, during the study period, the real incidence of complications of the two techniques was revealed to be 27 out of 2319 when patients were operated on with the new technique, and 52 out of 2319 patients undergoing surgery with the traditional one. Through a simple chi-square analysis we obtain the following result:

The p-value obtained by this analysis is 0.006459, a ­significant result (<0.05) that allows one to draw ­conclusions about the incidence rate of complications, in favour of the most innovative technique over the ­traditional one. This result expresses that the possibility of error we can make when asserting that the two ­techniques are significantly different in terms of ­complication rate is low, since this result has been obtained through a ­statistically robust experience.

Let’s now assume that, for example, the two ­populations studied had been lower and the complication rate had been 19 with the innovative technique and 35 with the traditional one. We would have obtained the following result:

This result would also have indicated a statistically significant result (p <0.05): let’s now verify the statistical power of the study with such results with a ‘post hoc’ test:

Two-sample comparison of proportions power calculation

From a statistical point of view the ex-post and ex-ante tests have the same validity.

The tests analysed can obviously be used also when the groups compared are more than two or composed of ­different numbers of subjects.

The previous examples show that when there is the need to perform a statistical analysis on rare events and on groups that can be similar, it is necessary to enroll a huge number of cases to demonstrate significant results. This is generally the case for studies dealing with surgical ­complications, that need an analysis with sufficient ­statistical power. On the other hand, when critically ­analysing a study about the complications issue, it is ­necessary to verify its statistical power to find out if the results are reliable.

When further considering the complications issue, it is necessary to introduce other statistical considerations, that can appear slightly more complicated in the ­beginning, but can be easily managed by every reader.

The studies on surgical complications tend to be ­performed through statistical tests based on nominal ­variables (a nominal variable is one that has two or more categories, without intrinsic ordering to the categories), such as the chi-square, the odds ratio or the logistic regression.

Various theorems of the central limit (e.g. the DeMoivre–LaPlace law) state that when the size of the sample tends to infinity, the sum of the random variables tends to lot as a normal casual one. These theories, although complicated, are particularly useful when ­considering rare events that need extremely large samples for a correct statistical analysis. Their final result is to allow the use of statistical tests that are used to study ­continuous Gaussian variables. This means that, in ­particular situations, a t-test can be used to evaluate the rare events in an analysis instead of a non-parametric test, or a multiple linear regression instead of a multiple logistic one. It is obviously not mandatory to use a test used for the evaluation of Gaussian variables in the ­presence of large samples; a statistician can decide to ignore the possibility given by the central limit theory and use instead a test for nominal variables.

It is necessary here to reiterate that the statistical power should also be calculated in these situations, since there are formulas available to evaluate it when using ­multivariate analysis.

When a project is set up to study a continuous variable (e.g. evaluating the severity of complications, the ­operative time, the length of an incision) and a sample of sufficient size to allow the use of the central limit theory cannot be obtained, it will be necessary to evaluate whether the variable in analysis shows a Gaussian ­distribution or not. This preliminary analysis can be done either graphically or by using a preliminary test, such as the Bartlett test, Fligner–Killeen test, Brown–Forsyth test, Hartley test, Cochran method or Levene test. When the desired variable does not follow a normal distribution, the power test will be a non-parametric test, such as the Mann–Whitney or Kruskal–Wallis.

It is not possible to show here every power test that can be used in different analyses, but it is worth noting that every statistical software program contains all the tests necessary for different situations.

Finally, it is important to underline the necessity of a preliminary statistical analysis when evaluating the desired aims of a study. During this preliminary analysis, it is essential to determine whether is necessary to demonstrate if a statistically significant difference is present or if an anticipated result is not different among the different ­samples. For example, if a researcher wants to demonstrate that the operative times of two different surgical ­operations are not statistically different, the aim of the study will be to demonstrate an equivalence and not a difference.

In such a project, it is not adequate to use a simple t-test aimed at demonstrating the absence of a significant difference (p <0.05), since in this case the absence of a statistically significant difference only states that we do not have enough encounters to conclude that the two ­operations have different results; a situation identical to that of a suspect who is discharged for lack of evidence: the verdict does not necessarily mean that he is 100% innocent.

When a researcher wants to demonstrate the similarity of different treatments, a test for therapeutic equivalence should be used; on the other hand, a non-inferiority test can be used when trying to demonstrate that one ­treatment is not less effective than another. Those tests are often used for pharmacological studies but can also be used in different fields of medical research. A test of equivalence does not refer to a confidence interval but to an equivalence interval and the rules are different from those used for the tests that have been previously ­discussed. The power tests that should be used are also different from those previously examined, although the rationale is exactly the same.

Table 1.3 Example of a meta-analysis (see text).

The MBESS package available for the most recent ­versions of the ‘R’ software (www.r-project.org/) contains the equivalence tests and allows expert statisticians to perform the relative power analyses.

It is necessary to point out that in the scientific ­literature, the tests for therapeutic equivalence are not commonly used to demonstrate an equivalence between two different surgical operations, and the tests that are generally, and erroneously, used are the more ‘traditional statistical tests’ (the t-test, Mann–Whitney test, etc.).

How to perform a meta-analysis

Proper evaluation of statistically rare events (­demanding extremely rich samples) is aided by the use of a ­meta-analysis, which will include many different ­studies published in the literature, thus reaching a significant sample size. When none of the studies published in the literature reaches a significant sample by itself, the ­studies can be considered together, thus obtaining a proper ­number of cases. However, this target cannot be reached simply by adding the samples from all the ­different ­studies; the rules for creating a meta-analysis are given below.

Let’s suppose, once again, that a surgeon needs to ­compare the outcomes of two distinct operations, a ­traditional one (TS) and an innovative counterpart (IS), in terms of morbidity. First, it is necessary to build a table that summarizes the number of complications (or ‘events’) of the surgeries, and the number of operations without morbidity (or non-events). The different studies considered should be relatively homogeneous in terms of number of cases analysed, and the final number should reach that of an adequate sample, according to the result obtained by an ex-ante power test.

Figure 1.1 The results of the meta-analysis obtained by the ‘R’ software.

Table 1.3 summarizes an example of a meta-analysis. When all the patients in the 20 studies are considered, we obtain a significant population, which may demonstrate an adequate statistical power.

If we consider p1 and p2 values of, respectively, 0.01 and 0.02, the two samples are indeed ‘strong’ enough to be considered for a sound statistical analysis, since from the first example the sample needed was 2319, and the number of subjects here obtained is over 2500.

The statistical software www.meta-analysis.com will obtain the results summarized in Figure 1.1. It is easy to see that all the studies considered in the meta-analysis show p-values >0.05, and therefore are not statistically significant. The legend at the bottom of the figure ­represents the final result of the statistical analysis that takes into consideration all the 20 studies, demonstrating a p-value of 0.049 and an odds ratio of 1.774.

In conclusion, this meta-analysis works out the major issue of the size of the samples needed for a sound and powerful statistical analysis and, although contradicting the results of every single study, it represents their ­expression as a whole.

References

1 Pattou F, Combemale F, Fabre S, et al. Hypocalcemia following thyroid surgery: incidence and prediction of outcome. World J Surg 1998; 22(7): 718–24.

2 Olson JA, DeBenedetti MK, Baumann DS, Wells SA. Parathyroid autotransplantation during thyroidectomy: results of long-term follow-up. Ann Surg 1996; 223: 472.

3 Rosato L, Avenia N, Bernante P, et al. Complications of thyroid surgery: analysis of a multicentric study on 14,934 patients operated on in Italy over 5 years. World J Surg 2004; 28(3): 271–6.

4 Echternach M, Maurer CA, Mencke T, et al. Laryngeal complications after thyroidectomy: is it always the surgeon? Arch Surg 2009; 144(2): 149–53.

5 Bergamaschi R, Becouarn G, Ronceray J, Arnaud JP. Morbidity of thyroid surgery. Am J Surg 1998; 176(1): 71–5.

6 Efremidou EI, Papageorgiou MS, Liratzopoulos N, Manolas KJ. The efficacy and safety of total thyroidectomy in the management of benign thyroid disease: a review of 932 cases. Can J Surg 2009; 52(1): 39–44.

7 Toniato A, Boschin IM, Piotto A, et al. Complications in thyroid surgery for carcinoma: one institution’s surgical experience. World J Surg 2008; 32(4): 572–5.

8 Thomusch O, Machens A, Sekulla C, et al. Multivariate analysis of risk factors for postoperative complications in benign goiter surgery: prospective multicenter study in Germany. World J Surg 2000; 24(11): 1335–41.

9 Lefevre JH, Tresallet C, Leenhardt L, et al. Reoperative surgery for thyroid disease. Langenbecks Arch Surg 2007; 392(6): 685–91.

10 Chiang FY, Wang LF, Huang YF, et al. Recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy after thyroidectomy with routine identification of the recurrent laryngeal nerve. Surgery 2005; 137(3): 342–7.

11 Lo CY, Kwok KF, Yuen PW. A prospective evaluation of recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis during thyroidectomy. Arch Surg 2000; 135(2): 204–7.

12 Steurer M, Passler C, Denk DM, et al. Advantages of recurrent laryngeal nerve identification in thyroidectomy and parathyroidectomy and the importance of preoperative and postoperative laryngoscopic examination in more than 1000 nerves at risk. Laryngoscope 2002; 112(1): 124–33.

CHAPTER 2

Medical Malpractice and Surgery of the Thyroid and Parathyroid Glands

Daniel D. Lydiatt and Robert Lindau

Division of Head and Neck Surgical Oncology, University of Nebraska Medical Center and Methodist Estabrook Cancer Center, Omaha, NE, USA

Introduction

Medical malpractice occurs in every corner of the world but the degree to which it affects patients and the manner in which it is pursued vary greatly. The USA has the greatest problem and the level of prosecution has reached crisis proportions, affecting healthcare delivery and patient access to that care. This crisis began in the 1970s and became progressively more costly over the years. By 2001, St Paul Companies, the largest malpractice insurer in the United States, had stopped providing malpractice insurance [1]. Insurance premiums became progressively more expensive, with a 1995 study by the General Accounting Office estimating that insurance premiums cost medical providers between $4.86 and $9.2 billion annually [2]. Additionally, defensive medicine costs the healthcare industry between $4.2 and $12.7 billion a year [2].

Possibly even more pernicious is the effect it has had on the manner in which physicians practise medicine. Alarmingly, in a Harris poll of practising physicians in the USA, 79% admitted to ordering unnecessary test for legal protection rather than medical reasons [3]. In the milieu of spiralling healthcare costs and attempts at healthcare reform, physicians of all specialties are uncertain about how to control costs. The decision to hold the line on expensive tests is weighed against the possible ramifications of doing a disservice to our patients and placing ourselves at unnecessary risk for litigation.

When we consider thyroid and parathyroid surgery in this light, some special considerations also come to the forefront. The rates of thyroid surgery and the incidence of thyroid carcinomas seem to be increasing in the United States. In 1997, 48,000 partial or complete thyroidectomies were done in the United States; by 2007 the number was over 58,000 [4]. Litigation concerning the thyroid has also risen and the costs associated with prevention as well as the awards received by plaintiffs have sky-rocketed. In response to this rise, surgeons and other physicians have attempted to better understand these phenomena and to promote malpractice reform as one form of controlling costs and protecting ourselves and our patients.

Malpractice reform has made some minimal headway in some states but has been frustrated in many others. It has definitely been a non-starter on a national level. Frustrated with the lack of tort reform, healthcare ­personnel have begun looking for ways to prevent litigation through education, litigation analysis and risk ­management strategies. One method of developing these risk management and education strategies is by analysing data compiled by professional legal services from past litigation summaries. These data are used by attorneys to review precedents of previous suits and to assess the value of potential suits. They can also be used to understand the causes of litigation to determine how we can improve our practice patterns to prevent the litigation in the first place. This can only lead to better care for our patients and cost savings from that portion of the healthcare ­dollar that is spent on malpractice. When one considers the 79% ordering unnecessary tests and procedures, this is not inconsiderable.

Studies evaluating litigation have been done for several head and neck sites, as well as the thyroid and parathyroid [5, 6]. The endocrine studies have identified some similarities and some unique differences with other head and neck studies. We highlight these features and attempt to identify the extent of the problem and identify possible solutions. We report these data here to highlight areas of concern and areas of potential risk management and ­prevention strategies.

Methods and results