Electro thermal bipolar Thyroidectomy Safe and effective operation

Abstract

Background: Thyroidectomy is a very common operation. Bleeding is a major complication of thyroid surgery. However in the last 20 years there has been a dynamic development of new instruments, which had a significant impact on the improvement of old, and the introduction of new surgical techniques. Aim of study: To evaluate the homeostatic effect and safety of total Thyroidectomy or lobectomy, using electro-thermal bipolar diathermy or conventional vessel ligation. Patients and Methods: This is a prospective randomized controlled trial of patients need total Thyroidectomy, or hemi -Thyroidectomy performed in Baghdad teaching hospital and private hospitals from January 2012 to June 2014. Patients were assigned into two groups, group A (58 patients) had Thyroidectomy with the classic suture ligation technique and group B (62 patients) had Thyroidectomy with the use of electro-thermal bipolar diathermy of low voltage. We took into consideration in our study the operation time measured from skin opening to skin closure, and the amount of postoperative blood loss calculated in the 1st postoperative day and in few cases drains were left for 48 hours if the amount of blood loss in the 1st 24 hours was more than 200 mls between two groups. Results: 120 patients were enrolled in this study. We found that the significant difference is in the main operation time between the two groups: in group A 48.2 minutes in total Thyroidectomy, and 52.2 minutes in lobectomy, compared to mean time in group B 60 minutes in total Thyroidectomy, and 36.6 minutes in lobectomy. We found that there’s a significant reduction in postoperative blood loss in group B compared to group A. Conclusion: Electro thermal bipolar removal of thyroid gland is an effective good alternative to classic suture and ligation and can be used safely with advantages of reduction in operation time and postoperative blood loss.