Minimal transcervical access single-port endoscopy-assisted thyroidectomy: a retrospective comparative study

Introduction
Conventional open thyroidectomy (COT) has been the most common approach for thyroidectomy, with a long incision in the neck, a portion of the body prominently exposed. As the morbidity of thyroid surgery has decreased to become minimal, cosmetic outcomes have emerged as increasingly important, motivating surgeons to develop alternative approaches. Aim: To describe our technique of minimal transcervical access single-port endoscopy-assisted thyroidectomy (Huang’s procedure – HP) and to compare the results with those of COT.

Material and methods
A retrospective comparative study from a prospectively maintained database was performed. Thirty patients who underwent HP (HP group) and 18 patients who underwent COT (COT group) between February 2021 and February 2022 were included. All of the patients were pathologically confirmed to have benign thyroid nodules in one lobe and underwent lobectomy.

Results
The incision length of the HP group was obviously shorter than that of the COT group. The patients who underwent HP experienced significantly less postoperative pain and better cosmetic satisfaction. In operative time, intraoperative blood loss, postoperative drainage, postoperative hospital stay, and the incidence of complications, there was no significant difference between the two groups.

Conclusions
Minimal transcervical access single-port endoscopy-assisted thyroidectomy (Huang’s procedure), in selected patients, is a feasible and safe alternative to COT, and is superior to COT in terms of incision length, postoperative pain and cosmetic satisfaction.