DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2019.v07i04.042

Pages: 1574-1576

Introduction: The incidence of thyroid cancer is rising sharply. The boundaries and key points of neck dissection corresponding to the lymphatic drainage channels of the thyroid are described but remain controversial. The purpose of our work is to discuss the type of lymphadenectomy done in thyroid cancer. Materials and methods: This is a retrospective study of 81 patients operated for thyroid cancer in the ENT and CCF departments of the Rabat specialty hospital, over a period of three years, between 2015 and 2017. Results: 76 patients underwent total thyroidectomy. Sixty patients underwent bilateral central dissection, associated with ipsilateral functional dissection in 18 patients, bilateral in three patients and ipsilateral radical in three patients. Five patients had anaplastic carcinoma, 6 patients had medullary carcinoma, 4 had follicular carcinoma, and 66 had papillary carcinoma. The presence of metastatic lymphadenopathy in central compartment was noted in 39 patients, associated with ipsilateral J-C metastasis in 18 patients and contralateral in three patients. Discussion and conclusion: In the literature, we have found that there is still no consensus regarding functional dissection in thyroid cancer. We note that cervical lymph node dissection may be limited to the central compartment or associated with ipsilateral or bilateral functional dissection depending on the lymph node status of the patient.