학술논문

A Nationwide Survey to Assess the Practices and Patterns of Use of Intraoperative Nerve Monitoring During Thyroid Surgery Among Surgeons in India
Document Type
Original Paper
Source
Indian Journal of Surgical Oncology. 15(1):18-24
Subject
IONM
Survey
Surgeons
Thyroid
Malignancy
Language
English
ISSN
0975-7651
0976-6952
Abstract
There is still equipoise for the routine use of intraoperative nerve monitoring (IONM) for thyroid surgeries; however, some surgeons tend to use it for various reasons. In our study, we did a national survey to assess the patterns and practice of the use of IONM among surgeons during thyroid surgery in India. A questionnaire survey was sent to surgeons (head and neck surgical oncologists, general surgical oncologists, endocrine surgeons and otolaryngologists) in different zones in India via email, and their responses were analysed. One hundred and one responses were received. The majority of the respondents were head and neck surgical oncologists (n = 56, 55.4%). Forty-three (42.6%) respondents used IONM during thyroid surgeries in this survey. Surgeons with ≤ 15 years of experience performing thyroid surgeries (p = 0.02) and surgeons performing > 50 thyroid surgeries also tended to use IONM. Mostly IONM was used for surgeries on thyroid malignancies (p = 0.016). The respondents used IONM for more than one reason such as medicolegal purposes and surgeon comfort among others. IONM was most often used during redo surgeries (n = 46, 45.5%) and in patients with already one fixed cord (n = 39, 38.6%). The majority felt IONM was not cost-effective (n = 53, 52.5%). The use of IONM during thyroid surgery in our survey was nearly 43%. It was used mostly for surgery for thyroid malignancies, and it was found to be used for more than one reason and indications such as redo surgeries (most commonly).