Video-assisted neck surgery: endoscopic resection of thyroid tumors with a very minimal neck wound

Abstract

In recent years, endoscopic surgery has been widely applied with a view to minimizing tissue trauma and wound-related complications and improving cosmetic outcomes. Reports on its use in thyroid surgery are extremely scarce particularly with regard to exploiting the advantage of eliminating unattractive scars that we sometimes encounter in conventional operations on the exposed anterior part of the neck. We initially experimented and practiced endoscopic neck surgery on animals until we gained enough confidence for clinical application. After obtaining informed consent from patients and their families we began performing this new technique on patients with thyroid nodules; we termed this technique Video-Assisted Neck Surgery (VANS). We hereby report our early experience of VANS in the endoscopic resection of thyroid tumors in five patients, mainly looking at technical feasibility and the ability to reduce neck wounds to a minimum.