Comparative study of endoscopic thyroidectomy versus conventional open thyroidectomy in papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) patients

Background The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the early surgical outcomes of endoscopic and conventional open thyroidectomies in patients with papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC). Methods Between September 2005 and December 2007, 499 patients with PTMC were enrolled. 275 patients underwent gasless endoscopic thyroidectomy via the axillary route (endo group), and 224 patients underwent conventional open thyroidectomy (open group). We analyzed the patient's clinico‐pathologic characteristics and surgical completeness between the two groups. Results The endo group was younger than the open group. The open group underwent more extensive surgery than the endo group. The operative time was longer in the endo group than the open group (138.5 ± 49.0 min vs. 105.5 ± 41.6 min; P