Video-assisted neck surgery for thyroid and parathyroid diseases.
BACKGROUND
Endoscopic surgery has now become a well-established modality for the treatment of various organ diseases. In the present study, we analyzed the surgical results achieved by video-assisted neck surgery (VANS) in thyroid and parathyroid diseases.


METHODS
From January 2000 to April 2002, 87 patients (eight males and 79 females) with a mean age of 49 years underwent VANS. The preoperative diagnoses of these patients included 37 benign thyroid tumors, 30 Graves' diseases, 17 parathyroid adenomas and three thyroid cancers.


RESULTS
The mean operative time of VANS was 165 min for a hemithyroidectomy, 287 min for a subtotal thyroidectomy, and 157 min for a parathyroidectomy. The mean intraoperative blood loss was 60, 183 and 23 g for a hemithyroidectomy, subtotal thyroidectomy and parathyroidectomy, respectively. No conversion from VANS to conventional surgery was experienced. Three patients (3.4%) had temporary palsy of the recurrent laryngeal nerve. Otherwise, the postoperative courses were uneventful.


CONCLUSIONS
VANS for thyroid and parathyroid diseases was found to be safe and effective. From a cosmetic point of view, a high degree of patient satisfaction was obtained. VANS is thus considered to be an excellent option for selected patients with thyroid and parathyroid diseases.
Maeda
Shigeto
S
Division of Endocrine Surgery, Department of Surgery, Nagasaki University, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, 1-7-1 Sakamoto, Nagasaki 852-8102, Japan. maedas@net.nagasaki-u.ac.jp
Shimizu
Kazuo
K
Minami
Shigeki
S
Hayashida
Naomi
N
Kuroki
Tamotsu
T
Furuichi
Akira
A
Sugiyama
Nozomu
N
Ishigaki
Katsu
K
Suto
Ryuichiro
R
Furui
Junichiro
J
Kanematsu
Takashi
T
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009333:Neck / Q000601:surgery; D010279:Parathyroid Diseases / Q000601:surgery*; D013959:Thyroid Diseases / Q000601:surgery*; D020535:Video-Assisted Surgery / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*