Recurrent Nerve Injury After Total Thyroidectomy: Risk Factor Analysis of a Targeted NSQIP Data Set

Background Recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) injury is a significant complication after thyroidectomy. Understanding risk factors for RLN injury and the associated postoperative complications may help inform quality improvement initiatives. Methods The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS-NSQIP) thyroidectomy-targeted database was utilized for patients undergoing total thyroidectomy between 2016 and 2017. Univariable and multivariable regression were used to identify factors associated with RLN injury. Results A total of 6538 patients were identified. The overall rate of RLN injury was 7.1% (467/6538). Of these, 4129 (63.1%) patients had intraoperative neuromonitoring (IONM), with an associated RLN injury rate of 6.5% (versus 8.2% without). African American and Asian race, non-elective surgery, parathyroid auto-transplantation, and lack of RLN monitoring were all significantly associated with nerve injury on multivariable analysis (P<.05). Patients with RLN injury were more likely to experience cardiopulmonary complications, re-intubation, longer length of stay, readmission, and reoperation. Patients who had IONM and sustained RLN injury remained at risk for developing significant postoperative complications, although the extent of cardiopulmonary complications was less severe in this cohort. Discussion Recurrent laryngeal nerve injury is common after thyroidectomy and is associated with significant morbidity, despite best practices. Attention to preoperative characteristics may help clinicians to further risk stratify patients prior to thyroidectomy. While IONM does not mitigate all complications, use of this technology may decrease severity of postoperative complications.

ENDOSCOPIC TECHNOLOGIES IN THYROID SURGERY: INTERNATIONAL AND OWN EXPERIENCE

Topicality. With the development of endoscopic technology, minimally invasive interventions on the thyroid gland have been widely developed. The introduction of minimally invasive techniques into practice is associated with the desire to improve the cosmetic effect and reduce surgical trauma for patients. The aim: to study the most popular techniques used in minimally invasive thyroid surgery, to show the advantages and disadvantages of each technique, the likelihood of one or another postoperative complication depending on the method of surgical intervention on the thyroid gland. Material and methods: Among minimally invasive interventions, mini-approaches have become widespread: axillary, anterior thoracic, paraareolar, posterior, transoral. When performing video-assisted surgical interventions, an endoscopic stand, a standard set of instruments (clamps and scissors for endoscopic operations), retractors for creating an operating space are used. Results: Criteria for a differentiated approach to the choice of the method of minimally invasive surgical intervention on the thyroid gland have been substantiated. The main task when choosing a method of surgical intervention is its simplicity, the possibility of rapid development, economic efficiency, and safety. Conclusions: Ensuring the safety and correct technique of performing surgery with mandatory monitoring of the recurrent nerve, visualization of the parathyroid glands made it possible to obtain good clinical results in patients with this pathology.

548 COMPARISON OF ESOPHAGECTOMY OUTCOMES BETWEEN A NATIONAL CENTER, A NATIONAL AUDIT COLLABORATIVE, AND AN INTERNATIONAL DATABASE USING ECCG STANDARDIZED DEFINITIONS

The ECCG developed a standardized platform for reporting operative complications, with consensus definitions, and DUCA adopted these definitions and have reported a comparison against these benchmarks. The aim of this study was to report five year complications data using the standardized definitions of the Esophageal Complications Consensus Group (ECCG), and to compare with published ECCG benchmark studies from the collaborative group and from the Dutch Upper Gastrointestinal Cancer Audit (DUCA). Methods All patients undergoing multimodal therapy or surgery with curative intent from 2014 to 2018 inclusive were studied. All data were recorded prospectively and maintained internally as well as entered onto a secure online database (Esodata.org) from 2015. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS® (version 18.0). Results 219 patients (mean age 67; 77% male) underwent open resection, 66.6% via transthoracic en bloc resection. 30-day and 90-day mortality were 0.0 and 0.9%, respectively. The anastomotic leak rate was 5.4%, and chyle leak 5.4%. Pneumonia was recorded in 18.2%, respiratory failure 10.9%, and ARDS in 2.7%. Atrial dysrhythmia occurred in 22.8%, recurrent nerve injury 3.1%, and delirium in 5.0%. Compared with both ECCG and DUCA, where MIE constituted 47% and 86% of surgical approaches, respectively, overall complications were similar in this open series, as was complications severity, however anastomotic leak rate were several-fold less, and mortality rates were lower. Conclusion In this unselected consecutive series and comparative audit with benchmark averages from the ECCG and DUCA publication, a low mortality and anastomotic leak rate were the key differential findings. Although not risk-stratified or directly matched, the severity of complications from this ‘open’ series is consistent with series containing large numbers of total or hybrid MIE, highlighting a need to adhere to these strictly defined definitions in further prospective research and randomized studies.

190 THE USEFULNESS OF A BILATERAL TRANS-CERVICAL PNEUMOMEDIASTINAL APPROACH FOR MEDIASTINOSCOPIC RADICAL ESOPHAGECTOMY

Several authors have reported on the left trans-cervical and transhiatal approaches under pneumomediastinum and right cervical open surgery for mediastinoscopic esophagectomy. However, with these approaches, sufficient dissection of the right upper mediastinal paraesophageal lymph nodes, right recurrent nerve lymph nodes and the subaortic arch to the left tracheobronchial lymph nodes is thought to be difficult. We herein report the usefulness of the ‘bilateral’ trans-cervical pneumomediastinal approach. Methods Ten patients with thoracic esophageal cancer were treated using this approach. Under pneumomediastinum via a right neck incision, the right cervical and upper mediastinal paraesophageal lymph nodes were dissected. The left recurrent nerve lymph nodes were dissected using a left trans-cervical pneumomediastinal approach. The subaortic arch to the left tracheobronchial lymph nodes was dissected with a combined right and left trans-cervical crossover approach. After this approach, thoracoscopic observation was then performed in the left decubitus position, and if the lymph nodes were not sufficiently dissected, the remnant lymph nodes were retrieved thoracoscopically. Results The average total number of dissected lymph nodes among the right cervical and upper mediastinal paraesophageal lymph nodes identified with a right cervical open/right trans-cervical mediastinoscopic/right thoracoscopic approach was 3.2/4.0/0.6, respectively. The average total number of dissected lymph nodes among the subaortic arch to the left tracheobronchial lymph nodes with a right trans-cervical mediastinoscopic/right thoracoscopic approach was 1.5/0.6, respectively. These findings indicate that, without the right trans-cervical pneumomediastinal approach, roughly four of the right cervical and upper mediastinal paraesophageal lymph nodes and one or two of the subaortic arch to the left tracheobronchial lymph nodes could not have been retrieved. Conclusion A bilateral trans-cervical pneumomediastinal approach is useful for achieving sufficient upper mediastinal lymph node dissection and esophagectomy.

687 ADVERSE EVENTS DURING MINIMALLY INVASIVE ESOPHAGECTOMY IN PRONE POSITION

Since the initial description of laparoscopic fundoplication in 1991 for the treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease, different minimally invasive procedures have been developed until nowadays, when esophagectomy is performed using combined thoracoscopy and laparoscopy. Objective: The aim of our study is to analyze the intraoperative complications of minimally invasive esophagectomy in prone position. Methods Between November 2011 and January 2021, 70 patients underwent minimally invasive esophagectomy in prone position in the Hospital Interzonal General de Agudos General San Martín and private practice of La Plata city. Results During the abdominal stage one patient presented coronary vessel injury and the other with short vessel injury. The complications occurring in the thoracic stage included lung injury, azygos arch injury, thoracic duct section, laryngeal recurrent nerve lesion, main stem bronchus injury, and pericardium lesion, during lymph node resection. Most of these complications occurred in the first 30 patients, while in the remaining 40 cases only two complications (p value = 0.4). Conclusion Minimally invasive esophagectomy in prone position is a feasible and safe procedure that can cause serious intraoperative complications due to its complexity. Although the results of our series did not show statistically significant differences, the number of complications during surgeries performed by the same team showed an important reduction associated with better training.

303 LONG-TERM SURVIVAL AND PULMONARY COMPLICATIONS IN MEDIASTINOSCOPIC ESOPHAGECTOMY

The radical esophagectomy for esophageal cancer is an invasive therapy due to a long one-lung ventilation. The mediastinoscopic esophagectomy in consideration of pulmonary complications became eligible for Japanese health insurance. Methods Radical esophagectomies (R0/1, gastric tube reconstruction) by thoracotomy/thoracoscopy (groupT) or mediastinoscopy (groupM) were performed for 118/58 or 225 patients with esophageal cancer. The long-term therapeutic results of mediastinoscopic radical esophagectomy are investigated. Results In clinicopathological features, younger and lower PS patients, neoadjuvant chemotherapy, advanced cases, or R1 resection were more frequent in groupT (p &lt; 0.01). Pulmonary complication was not significantly different in both groups (15.5 vs 11.0%, p = 0.19), whereas the any complications, including the recurrent nerve paralysis, were significantly frequent in groupM. The 5-years overall survival was better in group M (53.0% vs 68.2%, p = 0.04), but it may be because of the difference of cancer progression. In the subgroup analysis, the overall survival rate was similar in each clinical stage. The survival of patients with pulmonary complication was significantly worse in groupT. Conclusion The survival of patients underwent trans-mediastinoscopic radical esophagectomy was not different from that with conventional esophagectomy. The influence of pulmonary complications on survival may be lower in mediastinoscopic esophagectomy.

67 STRATEGY FOR DEFINITIVE TREATMENT AND PRESERVING QUALITY OF LIFE IN UPPER CERVICAL ESOPHAGEAL CARCINOMA

In radical surgery for upper cervical esophageal carcinoma, questions such as whether the larynx should be preserved depending on the distance from the esophageal orifice to the tumor margin and risk of aspiration during swallowing arise. We report the clinical outcomes of our strategy for upper cervical esophageal carcinoma based on the goals of curability and larynx preservation. Methods At our institution, resectable upper cervical esophageal carcinoma in which the tumor margin on the oral side is within 3 cm of the esophageal orifice is treated with chemoradiotherapy followed by larynx-preserving esophagectomy. The reason for initially using chemoradiotherapy is to make the surgical margin on the oral side completely negative and as distal as possible for definitive treatment and to improve quality of life (QOL). From 2016 to 2019, there were 24 patients who were diagnosed with upper cervical esophageal carcinoma within 3 cm of the esophageal orifice and received chemoradiotherapy and larynx-preserving esophagectomy. Results All patients were eligible for chemoradiotherapy and larynx-preserving esophagectomy. Pathologically, all surgical margins on the oral side were negative and all operations were curative. In particular, 6 patients with a tumor margin within 1 cm of the esophageal orifice underwent successful curative, larynx-preserving esophagectomy with the following additional techniques: incision of the cricopharyngeus muscle, lifting of the trachea and larynx, and rotation of the larynx to the left. Regarding surgical complications, 4 patients had temporary recurrent nerve paralysis with aspiration pneumonia and 1 patient had minor anastomotic leakage. Conclusion The combination of chemoradiotherapy and esophagectomy with a larynx-preserving technique is a useful treatment strategy for upper cervical esophageal carcinoma in terms of both definitive treatment and QOL.

66 SHORT-TERM RESULTS OF RADICAL SURGERY FOR ESOPHAGEAL CANCER WITHOUT THORACOTOMY

In recent years, surgery without thoracotomy for esophageal cancer has been reported by performing mediastinoscope and laparoscope-assisted esophagectomy. It is reported that this procedure reduces pulmonary complications. Methods Since June 2018, we introduced this surgical operation for esophageal cancer patients using mediastinoscope without thoracotomy. The patient was placed in a supine position and tilts head slightly to the right with bilateral lung ventilation. The upper mediastinal dissection, using a left cervical approach, was performed with a single-port mediastinoscopic technique using LigaSure™ Maryland. But the lymph nodes along the right recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) were dissected under direct vision using a right cervical approach. And then, the operation and the course after the operation were examined. Results We experienced 14 cases of surgery by February 2020 and have experienced only one pulmonary complication in the course of the surgery. This case had a left recurrent nerve palsy as a complication after surgery. For this reason, aspiration was combined, but it improved immediately. There were 2 patients that lung cancer and COLD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), but pneumonia did not occur. Suture failure was very high frequent. However, this complication decreased over time. Conclusion We reported that pneumonia after esophageal cancer surgery deteriorates the prognosis. Suppression of pneumonia by this operation formula can be expected to improve the prognosis.

212 USEFULNESS OF ENDOSCOPIC ESOPHAGECTOMY IN A PRONE POSITION FOR ELDERLY PATIENTS OVER 75 YEARS OLD

Surgery for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma(ESCC) is one of the most invasive surgery and high mortality rate because operation is centered on the thoracic cavity. Recently, Japan has been facing aging society, and surgery for elderly ESCC patient is increasing. In our hospital, we changed surgical position from left lateral position to prone. In this study, we investigated the surgical outcome and prognosis of ESCC operation in the patients aged ≧ 75. Methods From April 2011 to March 2019, 39 ESCC operations for patients aged ≧ 75 were performed in our hospital. We compered surgical position. We retrospectively examined clinicopathological factors, long-term prognosis, preoperative nutritional status (albmin, neutrophil and lymphocyte ratio), and operation factors (operation time, blood loss, recurrent nerve paralysis, complication, hospital stay). Results Cases in lateral position surgery were 22 and prone position were 17. The median age was 79 vs 79 years old, and the gender ratio was male: female = 16:6/14:3. No significant differences were observed in preoperative nutritional status. The operation time was 458 min vs 501 min (p = 0.126). The blood loss was 318 mL vs 195 mL (p = 0.003). The rate of recurrent nerve paralysis was 42.1% vs 29.4% (p = 0.262). The number of patients in Clavien-Dindo ≧ III complications was 40.9% vs 41.2% (p = 0.987). 3-year OS was 74.7% vs 77.3%, DFS was 78.6% vs 67.7%. Conclusion In ESCC patients aged ≧ 75, surgery in prone position was relatively safe. The blood loss and the recurrent nerve paralysis ware tend to be less. Recurrent nerve monitoring during operation and evaluation of perioperative swallowing function seemed to be the next subject.

Identification of recurrent laryngeal nerve: a dilemma in thyroid surgery

<p class="abstract"><strong>Background: </strong>Surgery of the thyroid gland is one of the most common surgical procedures performed. Recurrent laryngeal nerve injury is the most dreaded complication of thyroid surgery. Hence reducing intraoperative injury is of utmost importance. Routine dissection and identification of the recurrent nerve remain controversial.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Methods:</strong> This study consists of 70 patients who underwent thyroid surgery. This study was conducted at our institute during the period of 2 years (2018-2020). Patients were evaluated and operated. Patients with thyroid diseases and normal vocal cords were allocated to two groups randomly; in group A the nerve was identified and in group B the nerve was not identified.</p><p class="abstract">Results: Most of the patients participating in the study were in the age group of 33-42 years. Male to female disease ratio was 0.13:1. In our study out of 70 patients who underwent thyroid surgery, 18 (25.71%) patients suffered from recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy. Amongst those 18 patients, 2 palsies (5.71%) were in Group A and 16 palsies (45.71%) were in Group B. Recurrent laryngeal nerve most commonly lied posterior to the inferior thyroid artery on both right (65.38%) as well as left side (45.45%). Most commonly injured recurrent laryngeal nerve was the right sided recurrent laryngeal nerve (77.77%).</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Conclusions:</strong> Careful dissection of nerve during thyroid surgery eliminates the risk of recurrent laryngeal nerve injury. A thorough knowledge of thyroid gland, recurrent laryngeal nerve and its anatomical relations and variations is of utmost importance in preserving the recurrent laryngeal nerve in thyroid surgery.</p>