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Treatment of tongue base masses in children by transoral robotic surgery

  • Head and Neck
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European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The feasibility and effectiveness of transoral robotic surgery (TORS) in children with tongue base masses (TBMs) were evaluated. Eight pediatric patients who were treated with TORS for TBMs between January 2010 and January 2016 at a tertiary hospital included in the study. All pathologies were congenital lesions: four were lingual thyroglossal ductus cysts (LTGDCs), one was a minor salivary gland tumor, one was a vallecular cyst, one was a bronchogenic cyst, and one was an ectopic thyroid tissue. TORS was performed successfully in all cases. The mean robotic set-up and exposure time was 13.0 ± 2.1 min (range 10–16 min) and the mean robotic surgery time was 8.8 ± 6.9 min (range 4–25 min). Estimated blood loss was lower than 5 ml for one patient and lower than 50 ml for another one. The remaining patients’ estimated blood loss was lower than 10 ml. No patient required tracheostomy intra- or post-operatively. Only one minor complication occurred on day 10 after surgery (minor bleeding), which was resolved without intervention. No major complications or recurrence were observed. Better visualization and small, flexible arms allow surgeons to treat TBM faster and easily using TORS. This leads to decreased morbidity compared to open and transoral endoscopic/microscopic surgical methods. In the future, we believe that TORS may become the gold standard method for the treatment of pediatric TBM with continued development of robotic technology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery Clinic, Bakirkoy Dr Sadi Konuk Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey

    Fatma Tulin Kayhan, Ayse Pelin Yigider, Arzu Karaman Koc & Kamil Hakan Kaya

  2. Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery Clinic, Gaziosmanpasa University Medical Faculty, Tokat, Turkey

    Ibrahim Erdim

Authors
  1. Fatma Tulin Kayhan
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  2. Ayse Pelin Yigider
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  3. Arzu Karaman Koc
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  4. Kamil Hakan Kaya
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  5. Ibrahim Erdim
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Correspondence to Ibrahim Erdim.

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None of the authors has any financial or other relationship that might lead to conflict of interests.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in this study involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consents

Informed consents were obtained taken from all parents’ of individual participants included in the study.

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Kayhan, F.T., Yigider, A.P., Koc, A.K. et al. Treatment of tongue base masses in children by transoral robotic surgery. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 274, 3457–3463 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-017-4646-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-017-4646-0

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