Abstract
Objective: Harmonic scalpel (HS) is widely used in thyroidectomy because of its multiple advantages. However, there are concerns on thermal damage to the adjacent lateral. This study aimed to compare the incidence of EBSLN or cricothyroid muscle injury, and patterns of voice discomfort between thyroidectomy using HS and classic knot-tie ligation.
Method: Thirty-four patients with papillary thyroid microcarcinoma completed the study. Patients were randomly divided into 2 groups; knot-tying group (KT, n = 18) and harmonic scalpel group (HS, n = 16).
Results: Subjective voice assessment with questionnaires, acoustical analyses including voice range profile, and stroboscopic laryngeal evaluation were performed before and 3 months after surgery.
Conclusion: When compared to conventional knot-tying method, using HS does not increase SLN injury, subjective voice discomfort or perturbation parameters of acoustic voice analyses. Regardless of using HS, thyroidectomy may result in subjective voice discomfort until the third month after surgery, which usually recovers to the preoperative level during 6 months.
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