title: Endoscopic subtotal thyroidectomy for patients with Graves' disease.
abstract: Endoscopic thyroidectomy performed via the precordial approach leaves no scarring of the neck, and thus provided excellent results from a cosmetic viewpoint. We applied this technique to perform subtotal thyroidectomy in 12 patients with Graves' disease. Three trocars were inserted in the precordial region, and endoscopic surgery was performed with carbon dioxide insufflation. Vessel management and thyroidectomy were carried out using ultrasonic coagulation devices. The mean operative time was 259.8 min, and the mean blood loss was 90.2ml. There were no postoperative complications such as subcutaneous emphysema or hemorrhage, although hypoparathyroidism and recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis occurred in one patient. Cosmetically esthetic results were achieved in all patients. These findings indicate that this surgical technique represents an effective method of treating Graves' disease that provides excellent cosmetic results.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery 1, Iwate Medical University School of Medicine, Morioka, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Asahi
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shimada
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nakajima
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mashima
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Saito
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004724:Endoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006111:Graves Disease / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013525:Surgical Instruments; D013965:Thyroidectomy / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome