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Prospective Randomized Trial of Ligasure Versus Harmonic Hemostasis Technique in Thyroidectomy

  • Endocrine Tumors
  • Published:
Annals of Surgical Oncology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

Two surgical devices have become popular in thyroid surgery: a bipolar energy sealing system (B) and ultrasonic coagulation (UC). Retrospective and prospective studies have demonstrated that the use of these surgical devices for thyroidectomy compared with conventional thyroidectomy (clamp-and-tie) techniques reduces operative time and cost. We conducted a prospective randomized clinical trial to determine if there is any difference in operative time and cost between B and UC.

Materials and Methods

A single-blinded prospective randomized controlled trial was conducted at a tertiary referral center. A total of 90 patients who required a thyroidectomy for thyroid cancer, thyroid nodules, or hyperthyroidism were randomized to either B or UC during thyroidectomy. The operative time and cost of thyroidectomy were compared between the two groups.

Results

There was no statistically significant difference in patient age, gender, body mass index, indication for thyroidectomy and thyroid gland weight between the two groups. There was no statistically significant difference in operating room cost or total cost for thyroidectomy between the B and UC groups. There was also no statistically significant difference in the operative time between the B and UC groups (187.6 vs. 184.2 min, P = 0.48) or in postoperative complication rates. The only statistically significant difference in total cost was between surgeons independent of the device used (P < 0.01).

Conclusions

In thyroid surgery, total cost and operative time were similar between the two surgical devices used.

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Disclosure

This study was sponsored by Covidien.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Endocrine Oncology Section, Surgery Branch, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Reza Rahbari MD, Aarti Mathur MD, Mio Kitano MD & Electron Kebebew MD

  2. Department of Surgery, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Marlon Guerrero MD

  3. Department of Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Wen T. Shen MD, Quan-Yang Duh MD & Orlo H. Clark MD

Authors
  1. Reza Rahbari MD
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  2. Aarti Mathur MD
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  3. Mio Kitano MD
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  4. Marlon Guerrero MD
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  5. Wen T. Shen MD
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  6. Quan-Yang Duh MD
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  7. Orlo H. Clark MD
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  8. Electron Kebebew MD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Electron Kebebew MD.

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Rahbari, R., Mathur, A., Kitano, M. et al. Prospective Randomized Trial of Ligasure Versus Harmonic Hemostasis Technique in Thyroidectomy. Ann Surg Oncol 18, 1023–1027 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-010-1251-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-010-1251-5

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