Abstract
Objectives: Robotic bilateral axillary breast approach (BABA) thyroid surgery began in 2008 and is now one of the most widely used remote-access thyroid surgeries worldwide. This study aimed to analyze the results of 500 robotic BABA thyroid surgeries performed in a single institution in Korea compared with open thyroid surgery. Methods: From December 2018 to March 2020, 502 robotic BABA thyroidectomies (RTs) and 531 conventional open thyroidectomies (OTs) were performed in our institution by a single endocrine surgeon. We retrospectively reviewed patient medical records and performed a comparative analysis of OT and RT. Results: The RT group was younger (43.41 ± 11.41 versus 54.28 ± 13.41 years, p < 0.001) and had a higher proportion of females (84.3% versus 69.3%, p < 0.001), a lower BMI (24.66 ± 3.97 versus 25.83 ± 4.07 kg/m2), a higher proportion of lobectomies (52.6% versus 45.2%) and a lower proportion of lateral neck dissections (3.4% versus 10.0%, p < 0.001). The RT group had a longer operation time (145.33 ± 40.80 versus 93.39 ± 43.55 min, p < 0.001) and higher surgical costs. Although the OT group had a larger tumor size and a higher proportion of extrathyroidal extension, the numbers of retrieved lymph nodes were not significantly different between the two groups. Additionally, there was no difference in the stimulated thyroglobulin level before radioactive iodine therapy (7.01 ± 35.73 versus 8.39 ± 58.77, p = 0.782). The rates of transient vocal cord palsy and transient hypoparathyroidism were significantly lower in the RT group, and those of scar-related complications were higher in the OT group. Conclusions: Robotic BABA thyroid surgery has advantages not only in better cosmetic outcomes but also in lower rates of vocal cord palsy and hypoparathyroidism, with comparable lymph node retrieval and serum thyroglobulin levels.
Highlights
The incidence of thyroid cancer has increased worldwide for reasons that are not yet clear
Robotic bilateral axillary breast approach (BABA) patients were allocated to the “robotic BABA thyroidectomies (RTs) group”, and patients undergoing open surgery were allocated to the “open thyroidectomies (OTs) group”
We reviewed the cost of surgery in US dollars, defined as the surgery fee but not the total medical cost, which would include hospitalization, because these costs vary among patients due to socioeconomic and health insurance-related factors
Summary
The incidence of thyroid cancer has increased worldwide for reasons that are not yet clear. Thyroid cancer occurs frequently between the ages of 30 and 60, and the rate is three times higher among females [2,3]. Aspects of quality of life after thyroid surgery, such as the cosmetic outcome and voice problems, and hypoparathyroidism are very important for thyroid cancer survivors. For this reason, many thyroid surgical approaches have been developed to reduce surgical scarring and preserve the nerve and parathyroids and to achieve oncologic outcomes that are comparable to those of conventional surgical methods
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