Total Thyroidectomy Without Prophylactic Central Cervical Lymph Node Dissection: Is It Oncologically Safe in Patients with Early-Stage Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma

Background: The necessity and the benefits of prophylactic central cervical lymph node dissection (PCLND) in clinically node negative patients with early-stage papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) remain controversial. Objective: to evaluate the safety of total thyroidectomy without PCLND in clinically node-negative early-stage PTC. Patients & Methods: 34 patients with T1 or T2 & N0 PTC were included in the study and submitted to total thyroidectomy without PCLND. Post-operatively, all patients received TSH suppression therapy & radio-active iodine (RAI) ablation. Any suspicious local neck recurrence during the follow up was confirmed cytologically and treated by RAI ablation. Results: The mean age was 42.1 years. 55.9% of patients were less than 45 years and 44.1% were 45 years old or more. Male to female ratio was 10:24. T1 was found in 14 cases & T2 in 20 cases. Total thyroidectomy was successfully done for all the cases. Central cervical lymph nodes sampling was done in 5 cases. Excised lymph nodes were found in 8 specimens; 5 cases with lymph node sampling (14.7%) and 3 cases (8.8%) with accidental lymph node excision during thyroidectomy. only 6 of these 8 patients (17.6%) showed positive metastasis (pN1). No recurrent laryngeal nerve injury was reported. In 12 patients (35.3%), temporary hypocalcemia was encountered. The mean follow up period was 34.6 months. There were 2 recurrences (5.9%); 1 in the central & 1 in the lateral neck compartment. All recurrences were treated by RAI ablation. No distant metastasis or mortality was reported. Conclusion: total thyroidectomy without PCLND in clinically node-negative early stage PTC is an excellent treatment option that gives adequate loco-regional control of the disease with low rate of surgical complications. Close follow up for longer periods is needed.