Gasless endoscopic surgery through the upper chest in treatment of thyroid tumor / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

ABSTRACT

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Recently, there has been a surge of interest in minimally invasive techniques with endoscope in thyroid surgery. The aim of this study was to investigate the possibility of a scarless neck surgery under endoscopy for the treatment of thyroid tumor and to observe the results of this procedure.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 68 patients (64 women and 4 men) underwent the surgery. Their ages ranged from 18 to 65 years, with a mean age of (34 ± 3) years. There were 64 cases of thyroid adenoma, and 4 cases of nodular goiter. An incision was made on the surface of the chest bone. The operation cavity was made by dragging the skin. Sixty-four patients underwent partial thyroid lobectomy, four patients underwent thyroid lobectomy.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>All 68 cases showed healing in one stage. None of the cases showed paralysis of the recurrent laryngeal nerve or tumor recurrence within the next 2 to 60 months of follow-up. The patients experienced slight pain after the operation. The patients were satisfied with the cosmetic results of the surgery.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The gasless endoscopic surgery through the upper chest, which was performed to treat thyroid tumor, did not leave any scar, and was easy to handle, and gave good cosmetic results.</p>