Association Between Cervical Drainage and Early Post-Thyroidectomy Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Cervical drains after thyroidectomy are associated with higher odds of surgical site infection.
Association Between Cervical Drainage and Early Post-Thyroidectomy Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Cervical drainage has traditionally been used after thyroidectomy to reduce postoperative fluid accumulation and mitigate bleeding-related complications.
The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to examine the association between postoperative cervical drainage and postoperative outcomes following thyroidectomy.
Randomized controlled trials and non-randomized comparative studies involving adult patients were included.
drains raise, not lower, infection risk after thyroid surgery
Drain use was not statistically significantly associated with postoperative cervical hematoma (OR 1.28, 95% CI 0.93-1.75; p = 0.124).
No statistically significant associations were observed between drainage and seroma formation (OR 0.95, 95% CI 0.70-1.30; p = 0.750), postoperative bleeding (OR 1.26, 95% CI 0.85-1.86; p = 0.228), or reoperation (OR 0.89, 95% CI 0.59-1.32; p = 0.525).
Sensitivity and influence analyses demonstrated consistent results across analytical approaches and study designs.
In thyroidectomy, routine cervical drainage is not associated with a reduction in bleeding-related complications and is associated with adverse recovery-related outcomes, including increased risk of surgical site infection and prolonged hospitalization.
Overall, the findings indicate that routine cervical drainage after thyroidectomy offers no clear advantage in preventing postoperative complications and may be associated with adverse postoperative outcomes.