Total vs less than total thyroidectomy for benign multinodular non-toxic goiter: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis.

All studies had unclear risk of bias for blinding of the participants and personnel and high risk of bias for certain selective reporting. This meta-analysis did not show any clear benefit or harm of either procedure (TT vs LTT) for goiter recurrence and re-operation rates (for both recurrence and incidental thyroid cancer). However, re-operation for goiter recurrence was significantly higher in the LTT group based on a single RCT. Evidence suggests increased rates of temporary hypoparathyroidism with TT but there was no difference in the rate of RLN palsy and permanent hypoparathyroidism between the two methods. The overall quality of evidence was low to moderate.