Reducing neck incision length during thyroid surgery does not improve satisfaction in patients.

Area of Science:

• Surgery
• Endocrinology
• Patient Satisfaction

Background:

• Postoperative neck cosmesis is a significant concern for patients after thyroid surgery.
• Patient satisfaction is often linked to the perceived cosmetic outcome, particularly scar size.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the correlation between thyroidectomy scar length and patient satisfaction.
• To determine if scar length influences long-term cosmetic satisfaction in thyroid surgery patients.

Main Methods:

• An anonymous questionnaire assessed patient satisfaction on a 10-point Likert scale.
• 2,041 patients who underwent conventional thyroid surgery participated.
• Satisfaction scores were analyzed in relation to benign vs. malignant conditions and scar length.

Main Results:

• Mean satisfaction scores were lower for benign thyroid conditions compared to malignancy (p=0.021).
• No significant differences in satisfaction were found among benign subgroups.
• In thyroid cancer patients, satisfaction scores were similar regardless of operation type or scar length (p=0.820).

Conclusions:

• Incision length is not significantly associated with patient satisfaction after thyroid surgery.
• Scar length may not be a critical factor in surgical decision-making for thyroid cancer.
• Focusing solely on minimizing scar length might not be the primary driver of patient satisfaction in thyroidectomy.