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Background: The purpose of this research was to investigate the feasibility and strategies of right central lymph node dissection (CLND) in endoscopic thyroidectomy through chest-breast approach. Materials and Methods: Retrospective analysis on the conduction of 68 cases of endoscopic thyroidectomy through chest-breast approach with right side CLND (endoscopic group) and 31 cases of thyroidectomy through low-neck collar cervical approach with right side CLND (open group) from July 2014 to February 2019. The intraoperative and postoperative data were compared between the two groups. Results: All the surgeries in open group were successfully completed as well as the endoscopic group without any intraoperative conversion into open surgery. There were no difference in sizes of tumor, incidence of lymph node metastasis, number of dissected and metastatic lymph nodes, and postoperative hospitalization days between the two groups. Temporal hypoparathyroidism occurred in both groups with endoscopic group to be 24 cases and open group to be 15 cases but no case in both groups suffering from permanent hypoparathyroidism, recurrent laryngeal nerve injury, lymphatic leakage, or death. One case in endoscopic group was treated with secondary surgery for lateral cervical lymph node metastasis and no evidence of recurrence or metastasis was found in other cases during postoperative follow-up. Conclusions: With strict control in surgical indications and contraindications, endoscopic surgery is safe and feasible for selected cases with the same effect as open surgery on dissection of lymph nodes in the right central region, which is in line with the principle of radical treatment of tumors.

Background: An analysis of some special factors was performed to further evaluate and discuss whether endoscopic surgery and traditional open surgery have similar therapeutic outcomes for differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC)., Methods: A retrospective study was performed on 76 patients undergoing surgery to treat DTC. Forty patients were treated by endoscopic thyroidectomy via the chest-breast approach (endoscopic group) and thirty-six patients were treated by open surgery (open group). Serum thyroglobulin (sTg), radioactive iodine uptake (RAIU), radioactive technetium uptake (RATU), radionuclide imaging of the thyroid residual area (RITRA), radionuclide imaging of suspicious lymph nodes metastasis (RISLNM), and other general indexes were analyzed and compared between the two groups., Results: All surgeries were successfully completed in both groups. There were no significant differences between the two groups regarding gender (P = 0.120), postoperative hospital stay (P = 0.766), operation time (P = 0.065), intra-operative blood loss (P = 0.064), tumor diameter (P = 0.059), and overall complications (P = 0.828). Among these complications, there was no significant difference between the two approaches in transient hypoparathryoidism (P = 0.771), transient recurrent laryngeal injury (P = 0.474) and serious neck skin traction sensation (2.5 vs. 0%, P = 1.000). Age and body mass index were lower in the endoscopic group than the open group (P < 0.05). No significant difference was found in special factors between two groups concerning surgical range (P = 0.872), RAIU-2 h/24 h (P = 0.660/P = 0.955), RATU (P = 0.116), number of dissected lymph nodes (P = 0.157), sTg before radioiodine therapy (P = 0.188), sTg after radioiodine therapy (P = 0.159), RITRA at different time points ( 99m Tc 15 min: P = 0.144; 131 I 24 h: P = 0.243; 131 I 72 h: P = 0.624) and RISLNM (none: P = 0.805; central: P = 0.744; lateral: P = 1.000; central + lateral: P = 0.958)., Conclusion: Endoscopic total thyroidectomy and central lymph nodes dissection via a chest-breast approach are safe and effective. Through the detection of the postoperative special factors, a well-trained surgeon can achieve similar therapeutic results for selected patients with DTC, compared with open surgery.

Objective: Open surgery is the most common treatment of thyroglossal duct cyst (TGDC), but it leaves obvious neck scarring. This study aimed to explore the feasibility and strategy of total endoscopic procedure by breast approach to avoid such scarring on the neck., Materials and Methods: This study reviewed 13 patients who underwent endoscopic resection of TGDC and 15 patients who underwent open resection of TGDC. We compared and analyzed factors including operative time, estimated blood loss, postoperative hospitalization, complications, and cosmetic effect., Results: The surgery by the endoscopic approach was successfully completed in 13 cases and no one was converted to an open procedure. Another 15 cases were successfully performed by an open procedure. There were no significant differences between the 2 procedures in the mean cyst size, drainage time, intraoperative blood loss, and postoperative hospital stay. The cosmetic effect was better and the operative time was longer in the endoscopic approach. Two cases had swallowing discomfort after surgery in the endoscopic approach, whereas one case developed this complication in the open approach. On patient treated with each approach developed infection. One patient developed skin bruise and one patient developed subcutaneous hydros in the endoscopic approach, whereas no complications developed in the open approach. There were no incidences of uncontrolled bleeding, tracheal injury, dysphagia, salivary fistula, or asphyxia/dyspnea in both approaches, nor were there any deaths or recurrences of TGDC during the follow-up period., Conclusion: With strict indications, the total endoscopic breast procedure is feasible and effective for selected patients. This procedure can be another choice for patients who wish to avoid neck scarring when undergoing treatment for TGDC.

Background: Despite experience with the use of endoscopic surgical technology, there is controversy over the role of endoscopic thyroidectomy (ET) for Graves' disease (GD). This study aimed to conduct a meta-analysis to evaluate the cosmetic and safety outcomes of ET versus conventional open thyroidectomy (OT) for GD with respect to short-term consequences., Methods: We searched the following English language databases (Ovid MEDLINE, ISI Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library), and Chinese language databases (CNKI, CBMdisc, and SinoMed) between January 1996 and November 2015. The quality of the included studies was determined by the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. A meta-analysis was conducted using RevMan 5.3 software. Pooled mean differences (MD) or odds ratios(OR) with I 2 were calculated using either fixed or random-effect models., Results: Six trials including 846 total cases were ultimately selected for meta-analysis. ET was associated with reduced blood loss (MD = -32.02; 95%CI: -36.92 to -27.12; P < 0.00001) and better cosmetic satisfaction (OR = 38.92; 95%CI: 17.40-87.06; P < 0.00001) than OT. However, OT was associated with reduced operation time (MD = 19.70; 95%CI: 2.04-37.35; P = 0.03) and lower hospital costs (MD = 303.21; 95%CI: 123.07, 483.36; P = 0.0010). Furthermore, ET and OT were not significantly different in terms of drainage volume, and they had an equivalent complication rate, including for transient recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy, transient hypocalcemia, postoperative hypothyroidism, and recurrent-hyperthyroidism., Conclusions: ET appeared to provide better cosmetic satisfaction and a reduction in blood loss, whereas OT had a shorter operation time and lower hospital costs. Randomized clinical trials with large samples that include long-term follow-up data are necessary to confirm our findings., (Copyright © 2017 IJS Publishing Group Ltd. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Reoperative thyroid surgery is associated with a higher morbidity and has traditionally been done in conventional open approach. This study aimed to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of endoscopic areola approach for reoperative thyroid surgery., Methods: A retrospective study was conducted in 46 patients undergoing reoperative thyroid surgery with endoscopic areola approach (endoscopic group) and 70 patients with conventional open approach (open group). Perioperative and follow-up outcomes were compared between the two groups., Results: Baseline characteristics were comparable between the two groups. Except for two cases of the endoscopic group intraoperatively converted to open surgery, all the other surgery was successfully completed. No significant difference was found between two groups concerning operation time, drainage volume, drainage time and postoperative hospital stay (all P > 0.05). Estimated blood loss was more in the open group than the endoscopic group (P = 0.000). Although not statistically significant, the overall complication rate was less in the endoscopic group than in the open group (21.7 vs. 37.1 %, P = 0.079). Of these complications, transient hypocalcemia was the most common (endoscopic group, 17.4 %; open group, 21.4 %; P = 0.594). One patient of the endoscopic group and 7 patients of the open group suffered from transient recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) paralysis (P = 0.210). Moreover, 2 patients of open group experienced permanent RLN paralysis. During the follow-up period (range 1-6 years), no recurrent case was encountered, but the endoscopic group had a higher cosmetic score (9.0 ± 0.9 vs. 5.9 ± 0.9, P = 0.000)., Conclusion: In high-volume centers, with strict operation indication, sufficient preoperative evaluation and careful surgical maneuvers, endoscopic areola approach is a safe and effective method for reoperative thyroid surgery, allowing to provide a better cosmetic result and reduce intraoperative blood loss compared with open approach.

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect and cosmetic results of endoscopic thyroidectomy (ETE) via the areola approach for patients with thyroid diseases., Methods: A total of 1,250 patients with thyroid diseases underwent ETE via the areola approach between April 2005 and January 2011. Of these, 898 were benign goiters, 260 were Graves' disease, 28 were secondary hyperthyroidism, and 64 were papillary carcinomas., Results: The surgery was successfully completed in 1,249 cases, and 1 case was converted to open surgery. The mean operation time, estimated blood loss, and hospital stay after surgery for patients with a goiter, hyperthyroidism, and papillary carcinoma were 94.4 min, 15.2 ml, 5.0 days, 97.9 min, 16.1 ml, 5.5 days, and 134.3 min, 18.6 ml, 6.4 days, respectively. Complications included 4 cases of postoperative bleeding, 1 case of transection of the recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) on one side, 7 cases of temporary RLN injury, 34 cases of transient hypocalcemia, 5 cases of skin bruising on the chest wall, and 1 case of subcutaneous infection in the neck. At 4.6-year (2.5-8 years) follow-up of 1,185 (94.8 %) patients, 3 patients with Graves' disease had recurrence of hyperthyroidism, and 4 patients with nodular goiter had recurrence of small nodules. Four patients had discomfort on swallowing, 4 patients had an abnormal sensation of skin traction on the neck and the chest, and 1 patient with scar diathesis had mild scar hyperplasia. A total of 876 patients were satisfied, 4 equivocal, and 0 unsatisfied with the cosmetic results., Conclusion: ETE via the areola approach for patients with benign goiters, Graves' disease, secondary hyperthyroidism, and papillary carcinomas without metastasis to lateral cervical lymph nodes is an effective and safe procedure with excellent cosmetic results.