Quality of life of patients and distinctive properties of the postoperative period after minimally invasive video-assisted hemithyroidectomy

Abstract

Objective: to study indicators of the quality of life of patients and features of the course of the postoperative period after minimally invasive video-assisted hemithyroidectomy (MIVAH) in comparison with traditional open hemithyroidectomy (OH).Materials and methods: an analysis of the quality of life and postoperative results was carried out in 92 patients with benign nodular neoplasms of the thyroid gland. The study group included 45 patients who underwent MIVAH. The control group included 47 patients who underwent OH.Results: pain levels were lower in the MIVAH group throughout the evaluation period. At the same time, the statistical significance of the differences (p<0.05) in the level of pain was noted at 24–-48 hours after the operation. Swallowing disorders were noted by patients less frequently in the MIVAH group (by 14.0% 1 month after surgery and by 8.0% after 6 months). Analysis of quality of life indicators on the SF-36 scale demonstrated that at 1 month after surgery, patients in the MIVAH group had higher values of the Physical Functioning (92.7±10.2 versus 83.1±15.3 points; p<0.05), Role-Physical Functioning (86.1±11.7 versus 63.0±14.8 points; p<0.01) and Social Functioning (82.4±13.9 versus 72.6±14.8 points; p<0.05). 6 months after surgery, all SF-36 scale indicators showed leveling off between the comparison groups.Conclusions: the MIVAH technique, compared with traditional open surgery, is characterized by an improvement in a number of indicators of the postoperative period. After MIVAH, the quality of life of patients is significantly higher in the early postoperative period, but in the long-term postoperative period, the quality of life shows comparable indicators both after MIVAH and after OH.