Classic clamp-and-tie total thyroidectomy for large goiters in the modern era: To drain or not to drain

Table 1 Epidemiological characteristics of both groups (mean ± SD)

	Group D(n = 50)	Group ND(n = 50)
Sex (male/female)	4/46	6/44
Age (yr)	47.0 ± 5.6	51.4 ± 10.5
Body mass index (kg/m2)	27.35 ± 5.15	28.08 ± 6.06
ASA score	1.64 ± 0.71	1.42 ± 0.67
Pathology
Benign	43	45
Malignant	7	5
Thyroid weight (g)	51.8 ± 34.5	49.4 ± 34.4
Use of hemostatic material	No	Yes
Duration of operation (min)	98.5 ± 14.1	94.6 ± 13.9
Intraoperative blood loss (mL)	26.7 ± 18.9	24.8 ± 21.3
Blood in the drains (mL)	76.3 ± 44.4	-
Operative difficulty	1.90 ± 0.54	1.96 ± 0.53
Pain VAS score	1.58 ± 1.60	1.68 ± 1.59
Discomfort	40	9
Complications (no of patients)
Transitory RLN palsy	1	1
Transitory hypoparathyroidism	7	5
Bruising	1	4

Group D: Drains maintained for 24 h; Group ND: No drains. ASA: American Society of Anesthesiologists; RLN: Recurrent laryngeal nerve.