 Total thyroidectomies with and without lateral neck dissections, and surgery in general, have evolved in an era of increased attention to quality of life and cost savings. The most radical neck dissections are increasingly being replaced by more focused functional and selective neck dissections, during which the spinal accessory nerve, sternocleidomastoid muscle, internal jugular vein, and cervical sensory nerves are preserved and a more narrowly defined set of lymph node levels are excised, based on oncologic risk profiling. Finding Arista can decrease total thyroidectomy with or without lateral neck dissection drain output and lead to earlier drain removal could improve the quality of life of patients, significantly decrease the cost of care, and potentially decrease drain-associated infections. 