Comparison of quality of life between open and endoscopic thyroidectomy for papillary thyroid cancer.

Background: Recently, various endoscopic thyroidectomy techniques have been introduced for cosmetic purposes. However, few reports have compared the quality of life (QOL) between post-endoscopic thyroidectomy and post-conventional open thyroidectomy. In this study, we investigated whether endoscopic thyroidectomy was comparable to conventional open thyroidectomy with respect to QOL.

Methods: Between January 2010 and September 2011, 75 patients underwent endoscopic thyroid lobectomy and 233 patients underwent conventional open thyroid lobectomy. The QOL was assessed preoperatively and at 1, 3, and 6 months postoperatively by using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30-question (EORTC-QLQ-C30) instruments.

Results: Both groups showed similar changes over time in most of the QOL scales. However, patients who underwent endoscopic thyroidectomy showed significantly greater improvement in emotional function at 1 month (p = .039) and physical function at 3 months (p = .032). However, the pain increased more in the patients who underwent endoscopic thyroidectomy at 1 month (p = .042).

Conclusion: Current findings suggest that endoscopic thyroidectomy may offer more rapid recovery of emotional and physical function than open thyroidectomy. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 38: E827-E831, 2016.