Carbon nanoparticle-guided central lymph node dissection in clinically node-negative patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma.

BACKGROUND Distinguishing the involved lymph nodes from other tissues during surgery is critical for lymph node dissection. The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility by using carbon nanoparticles as guidance for lymph node dissection in patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). METHODS Eighty-one patients were injected with carbon nanoparticles (carbon nanoparticle group), whereas the other 81 patients were not (control group). Routine pathological examination was performed. RESULTS The lymph node dissection and metastatic lymph node dissection rates of the carbon nanoparticle group were significantly higher than that of the control group. In the carbon nanoparticle group, the number of mistakenly dissected parathyroid gland, the case number of postoperative hypocalcemia, the case number of postoperative hypoparathyroidism, and the recovery time from hypocalcemia were 4, 6, 8, and 2.33 ± 0.58 weeks, respectively, significantly less than 14, 17, 20, 3, and 3.8 ± 0.92 weeks in the control group (p < .05). CONCLUSION Carbon nanoparticles can be applied to more accurately guide the dissection of lymph nodes during thyroidectomy in patients with PTC. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 38: 840-845, 2016.