Trial reportSurgery today2011
Wound complications and clinical results of electrocautery versus a scalpel to create a cutaneous flap in thyroidectomy: a prospective randomized trial.
Trial report in Surgery today, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 9 citations in OpenAlex.
- Chronic postsurgical pain following thyroidectomy: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Medicine · 2026Pooled it
- The short-term outcomes of surgical scars in head and neck surgery comparing between surgical blade and geometric electron modulation electrocautery.European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery · 2024Trial
- Article
- Comparing the intraoperative and postoperative complications of the scalpel and electrocautery techniques for severing the inner layers of the lumbar disc during discectomy surgery.Frontiers in surgery · 2023Article
- Independent predisposing factors for subcutaneous and deep wound collection after total thyroidectomy, a prospective cohort study.Annals of medicine and surgery (2012) · 2018Article
- Intradermal Infiltration of Local Anesthetic-Rapid and Bloodless Deepithelialization of the Breast Pedicle.Plastic and reconstructive surgery. Global open · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeThe use of electrocautery for tissue dissection is becoming increasingly popular, despite the associated risk of poor wound healing and excessive scarring. We conducted this study to compare the wound complications and early and late clinical results resulting from electrocautery versus the scalpel to create a cutaneous flap during thyroidectomy.
methodsThe subjects of this study were 100 patients, randomized prospectively to either a scalpel group (group S, n = 50) or an electrocautery group (group E, n = 50).
resultsThickness of tissue damage, postoperative thickness of the flap, discomfort in the neck 7 days after surgery, and hypoesthesia and paresthesia in the neck 3 months after surgery were significantly higher in group E than in group S. There were no significant differences in overall postoperative wound complications, postoperative pain, satisfaction with the cosmetic result, or overall outcome of the operation between the groups. Although the incidence of seroma was higher in group E (20%) than in group S (8%), the difference was not significant.
conclusionAlthough electrocautery was associated with increased histological tissue damage, postoperative flap edema, discomfort, and other complications in the early stage, the clinical and cosmetic results of flaps made using electrocautery or a scalpel were similar and satisfactory 6 months after surgery.
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