Objective: To investigate the clinical significance of the operation score system for endoscopic thyroidectomy.
Methods: An operation score system based on 6 important procedure skills of endoscopic thyroidectomy was established. And a retrospective study of the first 300 consecutive patients underwent endoscopic thyroidectomy from July 2001 to December 2007 by a single surgeon was performed. The patients was divided into 10 consecutive groups chronologically, each comprising 30 cases.
Results: The mean operation score of all the patients was 6.0 and the mean operation time was 98.1 min. There were significant differences in the mean operation score, every skill score and the mean operation time among the 10 groups. In the consecutive two groups comparison, significant differences in the operation scores were observed between group 2 and 3 (P < 0.05) and between group 5 and 6 (P < 0.05).
Conclusion: The operation score system for endoscopy thyroidectomy is a useful method to judge the proficiency and the stability of the operation.