Remote‐access robotic thyroidectomy: A systematic review

Abstract

Background Recently, robotic surgery has been introduced as a new surgical approach to the thyroid. Objectives The primary objective of this systematic review is to critically examine safety and feasibility of the different robotic approaches. Methods The literature on robotic thyroidectomy was systematically reviewed. Primary endpoints were surgery duration, length of hospital stay, complications, postoperative pain and cosmetic satisfaction. Results Sixty‐eight studies with a total of 14433 patients were included. Depending on the robotic approach used, operative duration ranged between 89 and 230 min and hospitalisation stay between 0.1 and 5.6 days. Complication rates varied between 7.3% and 29%. Postoperative pain visual analogue scores (VAS) ranged from 0.6 to 4.71. Conclusion Robotic thyroidectomy results in high cosmetic satisfaction and quality of life. No differences in complication rates between robotic and traditional approaches are observed, supporting safety and feasibility of these robotic techniques.

Optimizing robotic thyroid surgery: lessons learned from an retrospective analysis of 104 cases

“…The integration of robotic technology into thyroid surgery has been a game-changer, reshaping both methods and results in the field. The analysis of our comprehensive series of 104 robotic thyroidectomy procedures echoes the broader scientific consensus, showcasing the pivotal role of the da Vinci Surgical System in enhancing the precision and overall effectiveness of these complex surgeries ( 12 , 13 ). The data gleaned from our cohort clearly delineates a proficiency benchmark, which is in harmony with the well-established learning curve intrinsic to robotic surgical systems ( 14 ).…”

“…Our initial experience with the cohort did present a small number of postoperative complications, including a single incident each of postoperative bleeding and tracheal injury. It is noteworthy that the occurrence of postoperative hemorrhage, at a rate of 0.9% (1/104), is notably lower than typically documented in traditional and endoscopic thyroid surgeries ( 13 ). However, the instance of tracheal injury, while rare in the realm of robotic surgeries, did manifest in our series.…”