Effect of prophylactic central neck dissection on the surgical outcomes in papillary thyroid cancer: experience in a single center
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Updated: Dec 28, 2025
Transoral Robotic Total Thyroidectomy and Bilateral Central Regional Lymph Node Dissection for Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma
Published on: September 15, 2023
Dilek Yazıcı1, Bülent Çolakoğlu2, Burçin Sağlam3
1Section of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Medical School, Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey. dyazici@ku.edu.tr.
Purpose:
Morbidity due to papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is increased mostly due to lymph node (LN) metastases, which lead to reoperations and complications associated with these operations. The aim is to compare the outcomes of PTC having total thyroidectomy and prophylactic central lymph node dissection (TT + PCND) with patients having total thyroidectomy (TT) alone.
Methods:
This study is a retrospective cohort analysis of 358 PTC patients that were operated by a single surgeon in a single center. Data about the patients were extracted from the medical records.
Results:
Of the patient cohort, 258 patients had TT + PCND (42.5 ± 11.3 years) and 100 patients (41.2 ± 11.9 years) had only TT. Total number of LN extracted in the TT + PCND group was 8.1 ± 6.9. The mean number of metastatic LN were 2.2 ± 1.9. Percentage of patients that had RAI were less in the TT + PCND group compared to the TT group. Seven patients (2.7%) in the TT + PCND group and 19 (19.0%) in TT group had recurrent disease (p < 0.0001). Of the complications, only transient hypoparathyroidism was increased in TT + PCND group compared to TT group (26.7% vs 10%, p < 0.0001).
Conclusion:
TT + PCND performed by an experienced surgeon seems to decrease the number of LN recurrences, and the need for reoperations.
