TY - JOUR TI - Electrothermal bipolar vessel sealing system is a safe and time-saving alternative to classic suture a ligation in total thyroidectomy AU - Manouras, A AU - Lagoudianakis, EE AU - Antonakis, PT AU - Filippakis, GM AU - and Markogiannakis, H AU - Kekis, PB JO - HEAD AND NECK-JOURNAL FOR THE SCIENCES AND SPECIALTIES OF THE HEAD AND NECK PY - 2005 VL - 27 TODO - 11 SP - 959-962 PB - John Wiley & Sons, Inc SN - null TODO - 10.1002/hed.20271 TODO - total thyroidectomy; LigaSure; hemostasis; ligation TODO - Background. Total thyroidectomy is associated with minimal morbidity. The electrothermal bipolar vessel sealing system is an adjunct to the surgical technique, recently made available to thyroid surgery. Methods. This is a prospective randomized trial of total thyroidectomies performed in single unit from July 2003 to May 2004. Patients were randomly assigned in two groups: group A (n = 90), total thyroidectomy with the classic suture ligation technique; and group B (n = 94), total thyroidectomy with the use of the electrothermal bipolar vessel sealing system. Results. Operative time was significantly reduced in group B by 14 minutes (mean difference, 14.3 +/- 4.2 minutes, 95% Cl, 5.88-22.6 minutes). No statistically significant differences were found in postoperative complications, postoperative serum calcium measurements, or hospital stay between the two groups. Conclusions. The electrothermal bipolar vessel sealing system is a safe and useful, time-saving adjunct for total thyroidectomy. (c) 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. ER -