Application of platysma muscle suture after thyroidectomy

Thyroidectomy is a common surgery in the neck area, in which the application of platysma muscle suture after thyroidectomy is still being discussed. This study was conducted to compare the application (currently common) or non-application of suture for platysma muscle.

In this retrospective cross-sectional study, 117 patients underwent thyroidectomy, among which 63 cases without suturing platysma (control group) and 54 subjects with suturing platysma (Intervention group ) were examined in terms of postoperative pain based on visual analogue scale score measured 24 h post-operation. The samples were also investigated regarding hematoma and seroma, wound infection, length of hospitalization, scarring (1 year after surgery), duration of surgery, and the number of cases using opioids during the hospitalization. Patients with diabetes, previous neck surgery, coagulopathy, and radiation history were excluded from the study. The gathered data were analyzed statistically in SPSS software (version 18) using the Chi-square test and the Mann–Whitney U test. A p-value of less than (0.05) was considered significant.

Based on the findings, the mean age of the patients in the Intervention group was calculated at 51 years, of which 41 and 13 cases were females and males, respectively. In the Intervention group, 34 patients underwent complete thyroidectomy and 20 patients had hemithyroidectomy. The mean age score of subjects in the control group was calculated at 50 years, of which 44 and 19 patients were respectively female and male. No significant difference was revealed considering wound infection, length of hospitalization, created scarring, the amount of opioid use (opioids), and postoperative pain. However, only the length of surgery was different between the groups (P-value<0.05).

There was no difference between wound and surgical complications and cosmetic results between both groups; nevertheless, due to the duration of the surgery and other benefits, such as consuming less thread, not suturing the platysma is recommended.