Total versus near-total thyroidectomy in Graves' disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis of comparative...

Total thyroidectomy (TT), near-total thyroidectomy (NT), and subtotal thyroidectomy (ST) are three surgical procedures for Graves' disease (GD) patients, but most previous studies have only evaluated the complications of TT versus ST or TT/NT versus ST; there is not a meta-analysis of NT versus TT, so whether NT is superior to TT for GD patients still unclear.

We comprehensively searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library, without restriction to region, publication type, or language, on 10 June, 2020. We conducted this systematic review and meta-analysis of all included studies assessing the two surgical procedures.

In total, 528 cases were identified from two randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and three retrospective studies. The incidence of permanent hypoparathyroidism after NT was lower than with TT [odds ratio (OR), 0.22; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.06-0.80; P=0.02], and there was no statistical difference in the recurrence of hyperthyroidism (OR, 0.33; 95% CI, 0.01-8.12; P=0.50) and other postoperative complications (P>0.05).

NT for GD was superior to TT regarding permanent hypoparathyroidism, but there was no significant difference in preventing recurrent hyperthyroidism, as well as the other postoperative complications.