Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33126382›Full record

Observational studyMedicine2020

To explore the risk factors and preventive measures affecting the treatment of retrosternal goiter: An observational study.

Wei Li, Huisheng Li, Shanling Zhang, Yingjie Tao, Xudong Wang, Junping Cheng

Open access · goldAbstract readObservational Study
In one paragraph

Observational study in Medicine, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
0.6field-weighted citation impact, top 29% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 8 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Surgical approaches to the management of the intrathoracic goiter - A systematic review.Acta otorhinolaryngologica Italica : organo ufficiale della Societa italiana di otorinolaringologia e chirurgia cervico-facciale · 2025
    Pooled it
  3. Multilayered Insights into Poorly Differentiated,Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 5 countries.

Wei LiDepartment of Head and Neck, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, National Clinical Research Center of Cancer, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin, P.R. China.
Huisheng Li
Shanling Zhang
Yingjie Tao
Xudong Wang
Total (France) · FRTianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The definition of substernal goiter (SG) is based on variable criteria, leading to considerable variations in the reported incidence (from 0.2% to 45%). The peri- and postoperative complications are higher in total thyroidectomy (TT) for SG than that for cervical goiter. This study aimed to evaluate the preoperative risk factors associated with postoperative complications.From 2002 to 2014, 142 (8.5%; 98 women and 44 men) of the 1690 patients who underwent TT had a SG. We retrospectively evaluated the following parameters: sex, age, histology, pre- and retro-vascular position, recurrence, and extension beyond the carina. These parameters were then related to the postoperative complications: seroma/hematoma, transient and permanent hypocalcemia, transient and permanent laryngeal nerve palsy, and the length of surgery. The results were further compared with a control group of 120 patients operated on in the same period with TT for cervical goiter (CG).Statistical analysis (Student t test and Fisher exact test) indicated an association between recurrence and extension beyond the carina with all postoperative complications. The group that underwent TT of SG showed a statistically significant higher risk for transient hypocalcemia (relative risk = 1.767 with 95% confidence interval: 1.131-2.7605, P = .0124, and need to treat = 7.1) and a trend toward significance for transient recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy (relative risk = 6.7806 with 95% confidence interval: 0.8577-53.2898, P = .0696, and need to treat = 20.8) compared with the group that underwent TT of cervical goiter. The major risk factors associated with postoperative complications are recurrence and extension beyond the carina.TT is the procedure to perform in SG even if the incidence of complications is higher than cervical goiters. The major risk factors associated with postoperative complications are recurrence and extension beyond the carina.

Indexed as

AdultAgedFemaleGoiter, SubsternalHumansMaleMiddle AgedPostoperative ComplicationsRetrospective StudiesRisk FactorsThyroidectomyVocal Cord Paralysis

Identifiers

PMID33126382
PMCPMC7598840
OpenAlexW3096253870

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.