Robotic versus Open Thyroidectomy for Differentiated Thyroid Cancer: An Evidence-Based Review

Table 1

Summary of recurrent laryngeal nerve injury in published studies.

First author/year	RT approach	Sample size (RT versus OT)	Definition of transient RLN injury	Rates of transient RLN injury (%); (RT versus OT)	Definition of permanent RLN injury	Rates of permanent RLN injury (%); (RT versus OT)
Lee, 2013 [22]	TA	62 : 66	Not stated	3.2 : 4.5; ( = 0.21)	Not stated	0 : 0; ( = NS)
Ryu, 2013 [23]	TA	45 : 45	—	NR	Not stated	0 : 0; ( = NS)
Tae, 2012 [24]	GUAB	75 : 226	Vocal cord palsy on laryngoscopy with recovery within 6 months	8.0 : 3.1; ( = 0.09)	Vocal cord palsy on laryngoscopy failed to recover after 6 months	0 : 0.4; ( = 1.0)
Lee, 2012 [25]	TA	192 : 266	Not stated	2.6 : 0.4; ( = 0.08)	Not stated	6.8 : 0; ( = 0.07)
Kang, 2012 [26]	TA	56 : 109	Not stated	3.6 : 2.8; ( = 0.77)	Not stated	0 : 0; ( = NS)
Lee, 2010 [27]	TA	41 : 43	Vocal cord palsy on laryngoscopy with recovery within 6 months	2.4 : 0; ( = NS)	Vocal cord palsy on laryngoscopy not recovered after 6 months	0 : 0; ( = NS)
Tae, 2011 [28]	GUAB	41 : 163	Not stated	2.4 : 2.5; ( = 0.73)	Not stated	0 : 0.6; ( = 0.79)
Kim, 2011 [29]	BABA	69 : 138	Vocal cord palsy on laryngoscopy not recovering within 6 months	1.4 : 0.7; ( = 0.62)	Failure of voice change to normalize after 6 months	0 : 0; ( = NS)
Yi, 2013 [30]	TA	98 : 423	Not stated	1.0 : 0.5; ( = 0.46)	—	NR
Kim, 2015 [31]	BABA	13 : 65	Vocal cord palsy on laryngoscopy lasting for <6 months	0 : 4.6; ( = NS)	Vocal cord palsy on laryngoscopy lasting for >6 months	0 : 3.1; ( = NS)
Kwak, 2015 [32]	BABA	206 : 634	Vocal cord palsy on stroboscopy from 2 weeks to 6 months	0.9 : 0.5; ( = 0.36)	—	NR
Noureldine, 2013 [33]	TA	24 : 35	Vocal cord palsy on laryngoscopy lasting for <6 months	4.1 : 5.7; ( = 0.76)	Vocal cord palsy on laryngoscopy persisting after 6 months	0 : 0; ( = NS)
Lee, 2014 [34]	TA	60 : 56	Not stated	5.0 : 0; ( = 0.24)	—	NR
Tae, 2014 [35]	GUAB	62 : 183	Not stated	6.5 : 2.2; ( = 0.11)	Not stated	0 : 0; ( = NS)
Lee, 2014 [36]	TA	43 : 51	Not stated	2.3 : 0; ( = 0.45)	—	NR
Kim, 2014 [37]	BABA	123 : 392	Vocal cord palsy persisted <6 months	4.9 : 6.1; ( = 0.60)	Vocal cord palsy persisted >6 months	0 : 0.3; ( = 1.0)
Song, 2014 [38]	GUAB	118 : 176	Not stated	0.8 : 2.8; ( = 0.40)	Not stated	0 : 0; ( = NS)
Lee, 2012 [39]	TA	42 : 46	Vocal fold motion impairment on videolaryngostroboscopy from 1 week to 3 months	21.4 : 19.5; ( = 0.82)	—	NR

RT, robotic thyroidectomy; OT, open thyroidectomy; RLN, recurrent laryngeal nerve; TA, transaxillary approach; GUAB, gasless unilateral axillobreast approach; BABA, bilateral axillobreast approach; , value; NS, nonsignificant; NR, not reported.