Robotic versus Endoscopic Thyroidectomy for Thyroid Cancers: A Multi-Institutional Analysis of Early Postoperative Outcomes and Surgical Learning Curves

Table 3

Comparison of perioperative outcomes between patients treated with robotic thyroidectomy and endoscopic thyroidectomy.

	Robot group (𝑛=1769)	Endoscopy group (𝑛=843)	𝑃 value
Total operation time (min), range
Total thyroidectomy	149.2 ± 32.3	172.7 ± 66.7	<0.001
Subtotal thyroidectomy	122.3 ± 32.4	127.2 ± 41.3	NS
Postoperative hospital stay (days)	3.3 ± 1.3	3.4 ± 1.1	NS
Postoperative complications (𝑛)
Transient hypocalcemia	276/706 (39.1%)	55/150 (36.7%)	NS
Permanent hypocalcemia	0 (0%)	2 (0.2%)
Transient hoarseness	68 (3.8%)	41 (4.9%)
Permanent hoarseness	8 (0.5%)	1 (0.1%)
Flap hematoma	10 (0.6%)	8 (0.9%)
Observation	8 (0.5%)	5 (0.6%)
Reoperation	2 (0.1%)	3 (0.4%)
Seroma	40 (2.3%)	19 (0.3%)
Tracheal injury	3 (0.2%)	4 (0.5%)
Esophageal injury	0 (0%)	0 (0%)
Transient chyle leakage	6 (0.3%)	3 (0.4%)
Transient traction injury	3 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)
𝑑/𝑡 brachial plexus neuropraxia