Comparison of safety and efficacy between total endoscopic resection and conventional open surgery for malignant thyroid tumors: a meta-analysis.

Background: Endoscopic thyroidectomy (ET) has been widely accepted as a surgical option for benign thyroid lesions, yet remains controversial in the treatment of malignant thyroid because of concerns with the safety and efficacies. This paper aims at systematically evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of ET in malignant thyroid tumors through meta-analyses.

Methods: Meta-analysis was conducted by retrieving all studies on the treatment of malignant thyroid carcinomas released in database, including PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane and Google scholar, from January 2005 to January 2019.