Thyroglossal duct cyst surgery: A ten-year single institution experience

1. Review our institution's experience with thyroglossal duct cyst (TGDC) excision. 2. Determine if TGDC recurrence rate is influenced by surgical technique, preoperative infection, or surgeon specialty.

We conducted a retrospective analysis of patients at a tertiary care children's hospital who underwent excision of neck mass with proven TGDC histopathology from 2005 to 2015. Patient demographics and presentation, preoperative workup, surgeon specialty, procedural details, lesion characteristics, and complication rates including recurrence were evaluated.

108 patients (51% male, 49% female), aged 6 months to 20 years (mean 6 years) met inclusion criteria. 121 procedures were performed: 96 (79.3%) for primary disease and 25 (20.7%) for recurrence. 32 patients (27.8%) were infected preoperatively, resulting in a significant increase in complications and recurrence (46.9% and 28.1%, respectively). Lack of preoperative imaging was correlated with increased recurrence (p = 0.0002). Recurrence rate after treatment for primary (11.3%) versus secondary disease (24%) was not significant (p = 0.23). Total recurrence rate differed between ENT (9.1%) and Pediatric Surgery (PS) (27.3%) (p = 0.0172). Difference was not significant for recurrence in primary disease (10% ENT, 14.8% PS, p = 0.49), but was for secondary disease (5.6% ENT, 71.4% PS, p = 0.002). Modifications of Sistrunk's procedure did not result in increased rates of recurrence (p = 0.1273).

Preoperative TGDC infection and lack of imaging led to a significant increase in postoperative complications, including recurrence. Surgical specialty significantly affected recurrence rates following excision overall and in secondary disease. Recurrence was not affected by surgical technique, age, sex, cyst size, or mucin rich histology.