New Technologies in Thyroid Surgery

Advantages of Small Incision Surgery in Thyroid Tumors

Objective

Thyroid tumor is a common thyroid disease, and the incidence of complications after traditional thyroid surgery is high, which seriously affects the prognosis of patients. With the development of minimally invasive techniques, small incision surgery has a positive impact on changing the traditional thyroid surgery treatment. However, the gap between small incision surgery and traditional thyroid surgery is unclear, so this meta-analysis was used to evaluate its application value.

Methods

Searching English biomedical databases, including PubMed and Science Network and Chinese major biomedical databases, including CNKI, Wanfang, and Weipu. The keywords of the searched articles are as follows: small incision surgery, traditional thyroid surgery, thyroid tumor treatment, clinical efficacy of thyroid tumor, and surgical treatment, and these keywords are searched individually or in combination to track relevant systematic reviews and literature meta-analysis, and conduct other studies. The retrieval period is from the establishment of the database to January 2022. After extracting the article data, the patients were divided into small incision surgery group and traditional thyroid surgery group due to different intervention methods. The Cochrane risk of bias tool was used to assess the quality of the included literature, and RevMan 5.30 was used for meta-analysis.

Results

A total of 9 articles met the inclusion criteria. There were 369 patients with small incision surgery and 364 patients with traditional thyroid surgery. Compared with traditional thyroid surgery, patients treated with small incision surgery had significant short hospitalization time (MD −2.72, 95% CI (−3.32, −2.12)), less amount of bleeding (MD −15.52, 95% CI (−20.40, −10.65)), short incision length (MD −12.73, 95% CI (−16.29, −9.17)), lower VAS score (MD −2.58, 95% CI (−4.08, −1.08)), and less complications (RR 0.30, 95% CI (0.21, 0.44)).

Conclusion

Compared with traditional thyroid surgery, the results show that small incision surgery can shorten the hospital stay of patients with thyroid tumor, reduce the length of incision, reduce the amount of bleeding and the occurrence of complications, reduce postoperative pain, and have a positive effect on postoperative survival of patients.

Transoral robotic thyroid surgery

There is currently significant demand for minimally invasive thyroid surgery; however the majority of proposed surgical approaches necessitate a compromise between minimal tissue dissection with a visible cervical scar or extensive tissue dissection with a remote, hidden scar. The development of transoral endoscopic thyroid surgery however provides an approach which is truly minimally invasive, as it conceals the incision within the oral cavity without significantly increasing the amount of required dissection. The transoral endoscopic approach however presents multiple technical challenges, which could be overcome with the incorporation of a robotic operating system. This manuscript summarizes the literature on the feasibility and current clinical experience with transoral robotic thyroid surgery.

Total thyroidectomy for non-toxic multinodular goiter with versus without the use of harmonic FOCUS dissecting shears - a prospective randomized study

INTRODUCTION

Thyroidectomy is among the most commonly performed procedures involving the endocrine glands and the development of advanced surgical methods combined with a strife for performing the operation in a manner that is minimally invasive for the patient has considerably increased the need for instruments that would limit surgical trauma.

AIM

To compare of the outcomes of total thyroidectomy operations with and without the use of ultrasonic harmonic FOCUS dissecting shears.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Eighty-two patients with a bilateral, non-toxic multinodular goiter were randomized to two groups of 41 patients each. Total thyroidectomy was performed in each patient. In the clip-ligation group (CL-G), during thyroidectomy, the superior thyroid vessels were clipped and bipolar coagulation was used to secure smaller vessels, whereas in the harmonic FOCUS group (HF-G), a harmonic device was used to dissect and divide all the thyroid vessels. The statistical analysis included the mean operative time, blood loss, postoperative morbidity and cost-effectiveness.

RESULTS

HF-G vs. CL-G operations were shorter (45.4 ±8.7 min vs. 64.5 ±14.2 min; p < 0.001), characterized by a lower mean blood loss (29.9 ±9.8 ml vs. 56.8 ±11.0 ml; p < 0.001) and appeared to be more cost-effective (666.2 ±37.5 EUR vs. 718.0 ±69.2 EUR; p < 0.01). No major complications were observed in both groups.

CONCLUSIONS

In total thyroidectomy operations, the harmonic FOCUS is safe and facilitates dissection, allowing for a significant decrease in operative time. Other benefits include lower blood loss and a slightly decreased cost of the procedure.

Minimally invasive video-assisted thyroidectomy: seven-year experience with 240 cases

Introduction

Minimally invasive video-assisted thyroidectomy (MIVAT) has gained acceptance in recent years as an alternative to conventional thyroid surgery.

Aim

Assessment of our 7-year experience with MIVAT.

Material and methods

A retrospective study of 240 consecutive patients who underwent MIVAT at our institution between 01/2004 and 05/2011 was conducted. The inclusion criterion was a single thyroid nodule below 30 mm in diameter within the thyroid of 25 ml or less in volume. The exclusion criteria were previous thyroid or parathyroid surgery, T2 or higher thyroid cancer, N1 stage, and thyroiditis. The Miccoli technique was used. The analysis included indications, eligibility rate, operative time, morbidity and cosmetic effects.

Results

Of 6,574 patients referred for thyroid surgery, 240 (3.6%) were eligible for MIVAT. In the final pathology report, there were 206 follicular adenomas, 21 papillary thyroid cancers, 9 cases of Graves’ disease and 4 follicular cancers. Reasons for exclusion were as follows: thyroid volume above 25 ml in 5401 (85.3%), thyroid cancer larger than stage T1 in 392 (6.2%), thyroiditis in 358 (5.6%), and previous neck surgery in 183 patients (2.9%). Minimally invasive video-assisted thyroidectomy operations consisted of 210 lobectomies and 30 total thyroidectomies, including 15 one-stage parathyroidectomies. Mean operative time was 38.6 ±15.1 min. Transient versus permanent recurrent laryngeal nerve injury was found in 8 (3.0%) vs. 2 (0.7%) nerves at risk, respectively. Cosmetic effects were assessed after 1 and 6 months of follow-up as very good or excellent by 89.6% and 95.8% of patients, respectively.

Conclusions

Minimally invasive video-assisted thyroidectomy is suitable for surgeons experienced in thyroid and video-assisted surgery. It is feasible for well-selected patients including cases of T1 thyroid cancer, Graves’ disease and concomitant parathyroid adenoma.

Intraoperative Monitoring of the Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve during Thyroidectomy: A Standardized Approach (Part 1)

One of the most feared complications in thyroid surgery is injury to the superior laryngeal nerve or recurrent laryngeal nerve. Neural identification during surgery is insufficient to assess nerve injury. Intraoperative nerve monitoring of the vagal nerve and recurrent laryngeal nerve during thyroid surgery is a new adjunct designed to allow better identification of nerves at risk and therefore reduce complications related to their injury. This new working tool does not substitute adequate surgical technique but merely provides the surgeon with an adjunct to routine visual identification and functional assessment. The use of nerve monitoring requires standardization of the monitoring procedure. Pursuant to this, we will discuss in two related articles the current state of the art standardized technique of nerve monitoring in thyroid surgery. The aim of part 1 is to provide a concise overview of nerve monitoring in thyroid surgery and its effectiveness. This will include a brief review of the surgical anatomy of the recurrent laryngeal nerve and the key landmarks used to identify the nerve during surgery. Part 2 will describe how to perform the standardized nerve monitoring in a step by step fashion during thyroid surgery which will diminish variable results and misleading information associated with a nonstandardized nerve monitoring procedure.

Technological innovations in surgical approach for thyroid cancer

Over the last decade, surgeons have witnessed dramatic changes in surgical practice as a result of the introduction of new technological advancement. Some of these changes include refinement of techniques in thyroid cancer surgery. The development of various endoscopic thyroidectomy techniques, the addition of the da Vinci robot, and the use of operative adjuncts in thyroid surgery, such as intraoperative neuromonitoring and quick intraoperative parathyroid hormone, have made thyroid cancer surgery not only safer and better accepted by patients with thyroid cancer but also offer them more surgical treatment options.

Minimally invasive video-assisted thyreoidectomy (MIVAT) with and without use of harmonic scalpel--a randomized study

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Minimally invasive video-assisted thyroidectomy (MIVAT) has been used for the removal of small thyroid nodules to improve cosmetic results and diminish pain. The aim of this study was to compare the outcomes of the MIVAT operations with and without the use of an ultrasonic harmonic scalpel (HS).

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Seventy-six patients with a solitary thyroid nodule below 30 mm in diameter were randomized to two groups of 38 patients each. Unilateral thyroid lobectomy was performed in each patient. In the clip-ligation group (CL-G), during MIVAT, the superior thyroid vessels were clipped and bipolar coagulation was used to secure smaller vessels, whereas in the harmonic scalpel group (HS-G), HS was used to dissect and divide all the thyroid vessels. The statistical analysis included the mean operative time, blood loss, postoperative morbidity, scar length, cosmetic satisfaction at 1 and 6 months following surgery, and cost-effectiveness.

RESULTS

HS-G vs CL-G operations were shorter (31.4 +/- 7.7 vs 47.5 +/- 13.2 min; p < 0.001), the mean blood loss was smaller (12.9 +/- 5.7 vs 32.8 +/- 13.0 ml; p < 0.001), the mean scar length at 1 month following surgery was shorter (15.6 +/- 1.4 vs 21.5 +/- 1.9 mm; p < 0.001), and greater cosmetic satisfaction was achieved at 1 month after surgery (88.9 +/- 9.7 vs 81.9 +/- 5.4 pts; p < 0.001), but the difference became nonsignificant at 6 months postoperatively. MIVAT with HS was 20-30 euros more expensive. No major complications were observed in both groups.

CONCLUSIONS

HS in the MIVAT operations is safe and facilitates dissection, allowing for a significant decrease in operative time. Other benefits, such as lower blood loss, a scar a few millimeters shorter, or a slightly better early cosmetic result, are offered at slightly increased costs.