Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40025116›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2025

Postoperative quality of life in patients treated for thyroid cancer with transoral endoscopic and open surgery.

Xiaoying Wu, Hongming Liu, Jun He, Chengyu Hu, Weixun Xie, Bixian Luo, Zelai Wu, Yansong Dong, Xuhang Zhu, Weihua Gong

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2025. 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
–field-weighted citation impact
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.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Trial
  4. Observational
  5. Review
  6. Review
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

10 authors.

Xiaoying Wu *Department of General Surgery, Tongde Hospital of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, People's Republic of China.
Hongming Liu *Department of Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Jun HeDepartment of Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Chengyu HuDepartment of Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Weixun XieDepartment of Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Bixian LuoDepartment of Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Zelai WuDepartment of Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Yansong DongDepartment of Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Xuhang ZhuDepartment of Thyroid Surgery, Zhejiang Province Cancer Hospital, Gongshu District, Hangzhou, China. Dr_zhu1209@163.com.
Weihua GongDepartment of Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. weihuagong@zju.edu.cn.

Funding

the National Natural Science Foundation of China 82305042Zhejiang Province Traditional Chinese Medicine Science and Technology Plan 2024ZL309
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Thyroid cancer treatments often impact patients' quality of life (QOL). The transoral endoscopic thyroidectomy vestibular approach (TOETVA) gets lot attention as a scarless alternative, but its influence on postoperative QOL remains unclear. This study compares TOETVA and open surgery outcomes regarding postoperative QOL, scar satisfaction, and mental health in thyroid cancer patients to inform surgical decision-making. We retrospectively analyzed 221 thyroid cancer patients treated between January 2017 and September 2024: 136 underwent open surgery, and 85 had TOETVA. QOL was assessed using the EORTC QLQ-C30 and THYCA-QOL questionnaires. Scar appearance was evaluated with the Patient and Observer Scar Assessment Scale (POSAS), and mental health with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). EORTC QLQ-C30 scores showed no significant difference in overall QOL between TOETVA and open surgery (global health status: 81.31 vs. 83.43, P = 0.420). The open surgery group had higher summary THYCA-QOL scores (15.33 vs. 12.41, P = 0.033). While univariate analysis linked TOETVA to fewer thyroid cancer-specific symptoms (P = 0.033), multivariate analysis did not (P = 0.198). TOETVA patients had better scar satisfaction (P < 0.001), confirmed by univariate and multivariate analysis. Anxiety (95.0%) and depression (88.2%) were common, with anxious symptoms in the TOETVA group nearing significance (P = 0.073). TOETVA significantly improves thyroid cancer-specific QOL and scar satisfaction but shows no difference in overall QOL compared to open surgery. These insights may guide surgical decision-making. In addition, attention to managing anxiety and depression is also essential.

Indexed as

Natural Orifice Endoscopic SurgeryQuality of LifeThyroidectomyThyroid NeoplasmsAdultAgedAnxietyCicatrixDepressionFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedPostoperative PeriodRetrospective StudiesSurveys and QuestionnairesOpen surgeryQuality of lifeThyroid cancerTransoral endoscopic thyroidectomy

Identifiers

PMID40025116
PMCPMC11873165

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

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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.