Türk Y, Kıvratma G, Özdemir M, İçöz G, Makay Ö. The use of thyroid cartilage needle electrodes in intraoperative neuromonitoring during thyroidectomy: A case-control study.
Head Neck 2021;
43:3287-3293. [PMID:
34264539 DOI:
10.1002/hed.26810]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2021] [Revised: 05/30/2021] [Accepted: 07/08/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND
The most commonly used recording-side method in intraoperative neural monitoring (IONM) detects the stimulus with the endotracheal tube surface (ETS) electrodes placed in the endotracheal tube during thyroidectomy. The thyroid cartilage needle (TCN) electrode method is an alternative recording-side system in IONM. This study compared two recording-side techniques in IONM.
METHODS
Data were retrospectively analyzed from 885 patients who underwent thyroidectomy between January 2012 and December 2020, with 110 ETS and 775 TCN electrodes. Patients' demographics, diagnosis, surgery type, and amplitudes of all stimulation steps were compared. Costs per patient were calculated.
RESULTS
No significant differences were found in the demographic data between the two groups. All amplitudes were higher in the IONM system where TCN electrodes were used than that with ETS electrodes (all stimulation steps p < 0.001, except left-V2 p = 0.007). Further, TCN electrodes were 20 times cheaper than the ETS electrodes.
CONCLUSION
TCN electrodes are an inexpensive and efficient alternative to ETS electrodes in IONM.
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