title: A comparative study of the surgical outcomes between video-assisted and open lateral neck dissection for papillary thyroid carcinoma with lateral neck lymph node metastases.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Video-assisted lateral neck dissection (VALND) for papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) with lateral neck lymph node metastases (LNM) has been described previously, however, the advantages and drawbacks of VALND have not been demonstrated in previous studies. The aim of this study was to compare the surgical outcomes of video-assisted and open lateral neck dissection for PTC with lateral neck LNM.
  
  
  METHODS
  Between May 2013 and November 2014, 92 consecutive patients with PTC and lateral neck lymph node metastases underwent total thyroidectomy with central compartment neck dissection and unilateral lateral neck dissection. These included 54 individuals who underwent video-assisted surgery, and 38 in whom an open approach was used. The two groups were retrospectively compared with respect to their clinicopathological characteristics, surgical outcomes and oncological completeness.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean follow-up period was 18.6months. The mean tumor size, tumor stage, mean numbers of retrieved lymph nodes, mean postoperative serum thyroglobulin levels, complication rates, and mean postoperative hospital stay were similar between the two groups. The mean operation time was longer (p=0.0001) and mean age was lower (p=0.0354) in the video-assisted group. The cosmetic results, evaluated by numerical scale and verbal response scale, were in favor of the video-assisted group (p=0.0003 and p<0.0001, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The safety and oncological completeness of VALND was similar to that of open procedures, but the VALND resulted in improved cosmetic results. VALND is an effective treatment for the selected cases of PTC with lateral neck LNM.
authors.affiliation: Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Institute of Micro-Invasive Surgery of Zhejiang University, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, 3 Qingchun East Road, Hangzhou, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Deguang
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Institute of Micro-Invasive Surgery of Zhejiang University, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, 3 Qingchun East Road, Hangzhou, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Institute of Micro-Invasive Surgery of Zhejiang University, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, 3 Qingchun East Road, Hangzhou, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Gaofei
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Institute of Micro-Invasive Surgery of Zhejiang University, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, 3 Qingchun East Road, Hangzhou, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Institute of Micro-Invasive Surgery of Zhejiang University, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, 3 Qingchun East Road, Hangzhou, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yuwen
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Miao
authors.affiliation: Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Institute of Micro-Invasive Surgery of Zhejiang University, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, 3 Qingchun East Road, Hangzhou, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zhezhe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Institute of Micro-Invasive Surgery of Zhejiang University, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, 3 Qingchun East Road, Hangzhou, P.R. China. Electronic address: gaoli0330@163.com.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gao
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood; D002291:Carcinoma, Papillary / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D004954:Esthetics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008197:Lymph Node Excision; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D037981:Neck Dissection / Q000379:methods*; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D061646:Operative Time; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D013965:Thyroidectomy / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D020535:Video-Assisted Surgery / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor