Thyroid surgery with harmonic focus, ligasure precise and conventional technique: a retrospective case-matched study.
BACKGROUND
New surgical technologies have been introduced in thyroid surgery, to achieve vessel sealing and hemostasis. The aim of the study was to examine their effectiveness and compare the outcome of total thyroidectomy using the Harmonic Focus™, the LigaSure® Precise and the conventional technique of suture ligation.


METHODS
A retrospective case-matched study of all total thyroidectomies between October 2008 through May 2010 was conducted. Patients (n=240) underwent total thyroidectomy using three different methods; the Harmonic Focus™ (Group F, n=80), the LigaSure Precise® (Group L, n=80) and the conventional technique of suture ligation (Group C, n=80).


RESULTS
No significant differences were identified between the 3 groups in terms of demographics, thyroid gland weight, pathologic diagnosis, preoperative and postoperative calcium levels, postoperative complications, duration of hospital stay, and final outcome. The operative time was shorter with Harmonic Focus® by about 15%. Statistical analysis revealed a statistically significant difference between operations with F (62.7±14.1 minutes) and C (72.7±13.6minutes) with (p=0.019).


CONCLUSIONS
Both devices were safe and efficient. A significant reduction of the operative time was found with Harmonic Focus® compared to the other two techniques with no statistically significant differences in postoperative complications in the 3 groups.
Department of Surgical Sciences, Medical School, University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy.
A
A
Bove
Ig
I
Papanikolaou
G
G
Bongarzoni
Pa
P
Mattei
H
H
Markogiannakis
M
M
Chatzipetrou
V
V
D'Addetta
Rm
R
Di Renzo
M
M
Fiordaliso
L
L
Corbellini
complications; operative time; surgical devices; thyroidectomy