title: Operative outcomes of robot-assisted transaxillary thyroid surgery for benign thyroid disease: early experience in 50 patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The main benefits of robot-assisted transaxillary thyroid surgery are to overcome the technical limitations of other endoscopic procedures for this surgical pathology and to avoid any cervical skin incision. This article describes the first experience of a Romanian team with the endoscopic robot-assisted thyroid surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used the da Vinci SI intuitive surgical system to carry out 50 thyroid operations: 33 unilateral total lobectomies with isthmectomy (TL), 8 unilateral total lobectomies, with contralateral subtotal lobectomy, and 9 total thyroidectomies. Preoperatively, the patients were diagnosed with nodular goiter in 42 cases, nodular autoimmune thyroiditis in 3 cases, Basedow disease in 2 cases, toxic thyroid adenoma in 2 cases, and diffuse goiter in 1 case. We analyzed the clinical characteristics, size and location of the nodules, surgery duration, postoperative complications, pain medication, histopathological findings and postoperative cosmetic results.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All surgical procedures were carried out without major incidents. One case required conversion to open approach. The mean length of surgery was 159 ± 38.2 min and the average console time was 68 ± 39.9 min; postoperatively, we recorded one case of transient brachial plexus neurapraxia, one transient vocal cord paresis, one transient hypocalcemia, and four postoperative wound complications. The final histopathological examination revealed two cases of well-differentiated carcinoma.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This paper reports the largest series to date in Southeast Europe about robot-assisted transaxillary thyroidectomy. On a group of selected Caucasian patients, postoperative results were similar to open cervicotomy in terms of postoperative complications. The major cosmetic advantage is the absence of scar in the anterior cervical region.
authors.affiliation: Vth Surgical Clinic, University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iuliu Hatieganu, 8, Victor Babes St., 400012 Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
authors.forename: Dan Damian
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Axente
authors.forename: Horatiu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Silaghi
authors.forename: Cristina Alina
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Silaghi
authors.forename: Zsigmond Zoltán
authors.initials: ZZ
authors.lastname: Major
authors.forename: Carmen Maria
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Micu
authors.forename: Nicolae Augustin
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Constantea
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001365:Axilla / Q000601:surgery; D002921:Cicatrix / Q000517:prevention & control; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019060:Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods; D061646:Operative Time; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000503:physiopathology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012371:Robotics / Q000379:methods*; D012383:Romania; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013959:Thyroid Diseases / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D013960:Thyroid Function Tests; D013965:Thyroidectomy / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult