Learning Curve in Autofluorescence-Guided Thyroid Surgery Study

130 patients underwent near-infrared autofluorescence (NIRAF)-guided thyroid surgery performed by two surgeons between 2021 and 2023. The study quantifies the learning curve, finding a minimum of 30 procedures per surgeon was required to establish consistent surgical practice regarding NIRAF use or parathyroid gland autotransplantation patterns. Data is derived from surgeon-completed standardized forms after each procedure.

Use Cases

• Analyze the relationship between procedure sequence number and NIRAF utilization patterns (e.g., use on specimen, before lower pole dissection) to model the learning curve.
• Model the decline in parathyroid gland autotransplantation rates over time as surgeon experience increases.
• Compare the learning progression (alpha values) between the two surgeons based on their reported surgical behavior data.
• Validate the 'minimum of 30 procedures' threshold for consistent practice using the recorded surgeon activity data.

Strengths

• Data from 130 patient procedures provides a concrete cohort for analysis.
• Study reports specific statistical results, including alpha values and confidence intervals for learning trends.
• Clear temporal coverage from 2021 to 2023 across two surgical departments.

Limitations

• The dataset is small, with only 130 patient records from two surgeons, limiting generalizability.
• Data is presented in a PDF report; underlying structured tabular data (rows/columns) is not directly accessible.
• Findings are specific to two Danish ENT departments and a particular surgical technology (NIRAF).

Provenance

Source

Retrospective cohort study by author Ali Abood, shared via figshare.

Collection Method

Data collected via standardized forms completed by surgeons after each NIRAF-guided thyroid surgery.

Time Range

2021 to 2023

Freshness

Data covers procedures through 2023; the record was last updated in 2026.

Geography

Two ENT departments in Denmark