J Korean Thyroid Assoc.  2015 May;8(1):19-25. 10.11106/cet.2015.8.1.19.

Quality of Life Outcomes after Robotic Thyroid Surgery

• Lee J
• Chung WY

• KMID: 2149617
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.11106/cet.2015.8.1.19

Abstract

The robotic approach is the new frontier of thyroid cancer surgery, with several advantages over conventional open and endoscopic techniques. Recent assessments of quality of life (QoL) outcomes have found that patients undergoing robotic thyroid surgery using transaxillary approach experience lower levels of dissatisfaction and regret than patients undergoing conventional open thyroid surgery, largely due to differences in cosmetic outcomes. Prospective trials evaluating functional parameters, including pain, neck discomfort, and sensory changes in the neck, have favored robotic over conventional open thyroid surgery. Similarly, objective and subjective evaluations of voice and swallowing discomfort were improved in patients undergoing robotic thyroidectomy. Thus, use of a robot results in overall increases in cosmetic satisfaction and decreases in several measures of postoperative discomfort compared with the conventional open thyroid technique. However, a proper evaluation of QoL requires long-term assessments, and randomized controlled trials are necessary to definitively establish the real benefits of robotic surgery. This review provides merits and demerits of robotic thyroidectomy and radical neck dissection, based on published data, as well as comparing QoL outcomes after robotic and conventional open thyroidectomy.

Keyword

Robot; Thyroidectomy; Quality of life; Transaxillary; Cosmetic outcome

MeSH Terms

Deglutition
Humans
Neck
Neck Dissection
Neck Pain
Quality of Life*
Thyroid Gland*
Thyroid Neoplasms
Thyroidectomy
Voice

Figure

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  Fig. 1. Photography of a postoperative anterior neck incision scar. The patient showed severe hypertrophic scar 3 months after conventional open thyroidectomy.

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  Fig. 2. (A) Photograph of a postoperative single incision axillary scar 3 months after robotic thyroidectomy. (B) The patient's axillary scar is completely concealed when the arm is in its natural position.

Reference

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