Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33224832›Full record

ReviewGland surgery2020

Narrative review of proving the causal link of recurrent laryngeal nerve injury and thyroidectomy: a medico legal appraisal.

Patrizia Gualniera, Serena Scurria, Cristina Mondello, Alessio Asmundo, Daniela Sapienza, Dionigi Gianlorenzo

Erratum issuedOpen access · diamondAbstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Gland surgery, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
12citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
5.0field-weighted citation impact, top 4% 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

12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 21 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Patrizia GualnieraSection of Legal Medicine, Department of Biomedical and Dental Sciences and Morphofunctional Imaging, University of Messina, Messina, Italy.
Serena ScurriaSection of Legal Medicine, Department of Biomedical and Dental Sciences and Morphofunctional Imaging, University of Messina, Messina, Italy.
Cristina MondelloSection of Legal Medicine, Department of Biomedical and Dental Sciences and Morphofunctional Imaging, University of Messina, Messina, Italy.
Alessio AsmundoSection of Legal Medicine, Department of Biomedical and Dental Sciences and Morphofunctional Imaging, University of Messina, Messina, Italy.
Daniela SapienzaSection of Legal Medicine, Department of Biomedical and Dental Sciences and Morphofunctional Imaging, University of Messina, Messina, Italy.
Dionigi GianlorenzoDivision for Endocrine and Minimally Invasive Surgery, Department of Human Pathology in Adulthood and Childhood "G. Barresi", University of Messina, Messina, Italy.
University of Messina · IT

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) injuries are frequent complications related to thyroid surgery determining patient complaints and malpractice litigations. In the present work, the authors provide a brief review on the peculiarities of RLN injuries associated with thyroidectomy to highlight the various aspects of medicolegal assessment of causal link between surgery and nerve damage. The characteristics of thyroid disease, the anatomical peculiarities of surgery site and the nerve identification and preservation are factors that mostly influence the liability admission or rejection. In this context, the clinical records are fundamental, representing the most important probative tool. The possibility of having a set of information collected by clinical records, which allows for analysis and comparison to be made regarding the adherence to standards for thyroid surgery, is essential to set any medico-legal deliberation. However, the medicolegal evaluation can be very difficult. The practitioners involved in the medicolegal analysis of patient complaints related to this thyroidectomy complication need an in-depth knowledge of surgical technique, damage prevention activities and related clinical picture. To this must be added an adequate competence in the evaluation of the causal link (relation between the event and the injury and between that injury and the temporary/permanent impairment) based on the rigorous application of the medicolegal method.

Indexed as

injurynear total thyroidectomyprofessional liabilityRecurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN)thyroidectomy

Identifiers

PMID33224832
PMCPMC7667053
OpenAlexW3096120923

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
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.