Safety and Efficacy of Transoral Endoscopic Thyroidectomy Vestibular Approach Versus Conventional Open Thyroidectomy: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

[OBJECTIVE] To evaluate the safety and efficacy of the transoral endoscopic thyroidectomy vestibular approach (TOETVA) versus conventional open thyroidectomy (COT) for some thyroid diseases.

[MATERIALS AND METHODS] Databases PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science were searched. Full-text English papers that described TOETVA and COT for people with thyroid diseases were included. Randomized, nonrandomized, controlled, and uncontrolled trials were all included. Extracted data included population characteristics and intraoperative and postoperative complications.

[RESULTS] A total of 2 randomized controlled trials and 10 retrospective studies, including 3048 patients, were included in the meta-analysis. Meta-analysis results suggested that the intraoperative conditions and postoperative complication rates did not differ significantly between the two groups. However, in the TOETVA group, there is a slightly longer operative time [weighted mean difference (WMD): 73.64; 95% CI: 49.34 to 97.94; P < 0.0001], drainage (WMD: 91.0; 95% CI: 35.52 to 146.48; P = 0.001), and hospital stay (WMD: 0.28; 95% CI: 0.18 to 0.38; P < 0.0001).

[CONCLUSION] For most of the benign thyroid nodules and selected patients with papillary thyroid cancer, TOETVA seems to be as feasible and safe as COT.