Nomogram for Predicting Difficult Transoral and Submental Thyroidectomy in Differentiated Thyroid Cancer

What this Trial Is About

The trial investigates factors influencing the difficulty of performing transoral and submental thyroidectomy (TOaST) in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer. This type of thyroid cancer is common and often treated with thyroidectomy. The study aims to identify preoperative indicators of surgical difficulty and develop a predictive model, addressing a current gap in understanding how various factors affect the complexity and safety of this minimally invasive procedure. Participants undergo observation of clinicopathological factors including age, body mass index, gender, thyroid function, lesion size and location, and ultrasound findings. The study categorizes cases as difficult or normal based on operative time and occurrence of severe intraoperative complications such as vascular or nerve injury. No treatment is assigned; the study is observational, analyzing outcomes during and after surgery. Participants will be monitored for up to one year, with evaluations of operative time and complications like recurrent laryngeal nerve injury, hypoparathyroidism, and mental nerve injury. Additional assessments include hospitalization duration and pain levels shortly after surgery. This comprehensive follow-up helps researchers measure surgical difficulty and related outcomes to build and validate the predictive model.

Nomogram for Predicting Difficult Transoral and Submental Thyroidectomy