Sutureless thyroidectomy with energy-based devices: Cerrahpasa experience

Total thyroidectomy makes up the majority of all thyroidectomy cases. Energy-based advanced vessel-sealing devices which were developed in recent years for the control of vascular pedicles allowed significant progress in thyroid surgery. This study is designed to compare the efficiency and safety of the two energy-based vessel-sealing devices (Ligasure™ LF1212 and Harmonic FOCUS(®)) in sutureless thyroidectomy. Two hundred and forty-five consecutive patients underwent sutureless total thyroidectomy. Patients were randomized for the Ligasure™ LF1212 (n = 126) or Harmonic FOCUS(®) (n = 119). The parameters of demographics, surgical indications, morbidity, incision length, duration of operation, weight of specimen, amount of drainage, postoperative pain, hospital stay, and histopathology of specimen were recorded. Mean duration of operation was 37.98 ± 14.98 min (16-92 min) and was significantly shorter for Harmonic FOCUS(®) (p < 0.001). Mean hospital stay was 1.09 ± 0.3 (1-3) days. Morbidity rate was 9.8 % in total, whereas no mortality was observed. In terms of morbidity rates, no significant difference was determined between the two groups (p = 0.476). In both groups, there was no need for extra analgesic application other than the routine given after surgery. According to our experience, sutureless thyroidectomy can be performed with low morbidity rates in secure and efficient way.