Vessel Sealing System Thyroidectomy

Objective: To compare efficacy and adverse effects between vessel sealing system thyroid lobectomy (VSSL) and conventional thyroid lobectomy (CTL).

Method: Study design: Randomized, controlled study. Research methodology: Eighteen subjects with solitary thyroid nodule planned for thyroid lobectomy were enrolled consecutively. Intervention was randomized by mixed-block randomization into 2 groups. Measured outcomes: Primary outcome was operative time. Secondary outcomes were intraoperative blood loss, postoperative blood loss and postoperative recurrent laryngeal nerve injury.

Results: There was clinically significant less operative time in VSSL group compared with CTL group (VSSL/CTL = 59.78 ± 11.83/85.22 ± 19.25 minutes, P = .004). There was no significant difference of intraoperative blood loss (VSSL/CTL = 39.49 ± 23.24/57.56 ± 18.94 mL, P = .089) and postoperative blood loss (VSSL/CTL = 49.44 ± 23.78/60.56 ± 41.57 mL, P = .496) between both groups. There was no case of postoperative recurrent laryngeal nerve injury in both groups.

Conclusion: Thyroid lobectomy using vessel sealing system was clinically significantly better than conventional technique in terms of operative time. Intraoperative blood loss in VSSL group also had a tendency to be less than CTL group. Postoperative blood loss and recurrent laryngeal nerve injury were not significantly different between both techniques.