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The Recent Advances in Robotic Transoral Thyroidectomy

  • Robotic Surgery (E Berber, Section Editor)
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

Transoral robotic thyroidectomy (TORT) is one of the latest approaches in remote-access thyroid surgery. This review presents the current indications for TORT, an in-depth description of the surgical procedure, and discusses the advantages, disadvantages, potential complications, and latest advances for this procedure.

Recent Findings

TORT has the advantages of excellent cosmesis, short distance from oral vestibule to the neck, and midline approach which allows easy access to bilateral thyroid glands and central compartment. In addition, the use of robotic arms ensures wristed instruments, tremor elimination, and reduced clashing of instruments with endoscope. Complication rates are low; however, the use of robotic systems is costly and there may be a steep learning curve.

Summary

TORT can be performed safely with careful patient selection and with an experienced robotic surgeon and it is an acceptable alternative for the treatment of certain thyroid conditions.

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References

Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance •• Of major importance

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Jordan, Kowloon, Hong Kong

    Dora K. C. Tai

  2. Department of Surgery, Korea University Thyroid Center, Korea University College of Medicine, 126-1 Anam-dong, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, 136-705, Korea

    Dawon Park & Hoon Yub Kim

  3. Division of Endocrine and Oncologic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA

    Hoon Yub Kim

Authors
  1. Dora K. C. Tai
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  2. Dawon Park
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Correspondence to Hoon Yub Kim.

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HYK reports support from Medtronic outside of the submitted work. DP and DT declare no conflicts of interest.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Robotic Surgery.

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Tai, D.K.C., Park, D. & Kim, H.Y. The Recent Advances in Robotic Transoral Thyroidectomy. Curr Surg Rep 8, 8 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40137-020-00253-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40137-020-00253-7

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