Effect of gasless endoscopic thyroidectomy through an axillary approach on the recurrent laryngeal nerve injury in patients with thyroid cancer

OBJECTIVETo observe the effect of gasless endoscopic thyroidectomy through an axillary approach (GETAN) on the recurrent laryngeal nerve in patients with thyroid cancer. METHODSOne hundred and ten patients with thyroid cancer admitted to the department of general surgery, the First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University were retrospectively selected as the research subjects. They were divided into an observation group (OG, 55 patients, treated with GETAN) and a control group (CG, 55 patients, treated with conventional radical resection for papillary thyroid cancer). Clinical indicators, pain degree, negative emotions, recurrent laryngeal nerve injury, vocal and swallowing function, and the incidence of complications were compared between the two groups. RESULTSIn terms of clinical indicators, the operation time, intraoperative blood loss, extubation time, and hospitalization time in the OG were shorter than those of the CG (all P