Surgery for Graves' disease in the era of robotic-assisted surgery: a study of safety and feasibility in the Western population.

PURPOSE: Thyroid surgery for Graves' disease is known to be associated with higher risk of complications. We seek to compare outcomes between robotic-assisted and open cervical approach thyroid surgery in patients with Graves' disease in the Western population. METHODS: We performed a retrospective cohort study using prospectively collected databases for patients undergoing robotic-assisted or conventional cervical approach thyroid surgery for Graves' disease at two academic medical centers, one in North America (New Orleans, LA) and one in Europe (Paris, France). RESULTS: A total of 102 patients were included, of which 56 (55%) underwent robotic thyroidectomy and 46 (45%) underwent conventional open cervical thyroidectomy. Mean age was 40.2 ± 13.2 years and 94 (92%) were females. Mean BMI for the sample was 27.7 ± 10.2 kg/m2. There was a trend towards larger specimen volume in the robotic-assisted group, 84.9 ± 62.2 cm3 versus 65.2 ± 40.5 cm3 (p = 0.07). Mean length of stay for the French patients undergoing robotic-assisted surgery was 3.2 ± 0.5 days. For the American cohort, length of stay was significantly shorter for robotic-assisted thyroidectomy, at 0.8 ± 0.4 days versus 1.0 ± 0.2 days (p = 0.003). Operative time was longer in patients who underwent robotic thyroidectomy (174.4 ± 33.5 min) compared to patients who underwent traditional cervical approach (121.2 ± 41.1 min, p < 0.0001). There was no difference in complication rates for the overall sample of patients undergoing robotic-assisted or open cervical procedures. CONCLUSION: Robotic thyroid surgery is safe in a select group of patients with Graves' disease in the Western population. Additional studies are warranted to further investigate these findings.

Successful Treatment of Differentiated Thyroid Carcinoma with Transaxillary Robotic Surgery and Radioiodine: The First European Experience.

OBJECTIVES: Transaxillary robotic thyroidectomy surgery (TARS) has been reported to be a safe approach in patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma, and oncological responses are promising. STUDY DESIGN: This study aimed to evaluate the oncological outcomes of TARS followed by radioiodine (RAI) therapy in patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma. Between 2011 and 2016, patients treated for differentiated thyroid carcinoma by TARS in a single institution, followed by RAI, were retrospectively included. The oncological response was performed according to the 2015 American Thyroid Association (ATA) guidelines 6-12 months later and at the last available visit. RESULTS: A total of 42 patients (30 females) were included, with a median tumor size of 20 mm (12 cases of N1a and 5 cases of N1b on initial pathology report). According to ATA classification of recurrence risk after surgery, 17 and 25 patients were classified as low and intermediate risk, respectively. After RAI, all patients had a normal posttherapeutic whole body scan (except 1 patient, who had pathological lymph node uptake), but no unusual uptake was seen. At the 6- to 12-month evaluation (n = 37), 24 patients had excellent response, 8 had indeterminate response, and 5 had incomplete response (2 biological and 3 structural); no distant metastasis was found. At the last evaluation (median follow-up 15.9 months), 35 patients had no evidence of disease and 1 patient had a structural incomplete response. In total, a second open surgery was necessary for 3 patients to treat persistent lymph nodes (all intermediate risk). CONCLUSION: In this study, TARS followed by RAI therapy seems to be curative, even for patients with lymph node metastases, after good preoperative staging. More studies are required to confirm the findings.

Gasless trans-axillary robotic thyroidectomy: the introduction and principle.

A historic review of the main stages of evolution of the minimally-invasive techniques in thyroid surgery. The endoscopic era is divided into direct and indirect approaches. Examples are the minimally invasive video-assisted thyroidectomy (MIVAT) and the minimally invasive lateral approach. The indirect approach is divided into transaxillary and chest/breast incisions. A brief historic review of the advent of robots to the medical and mainly surgical field. And finally, an introduction to transaxillary robotic thyroidectomy.