BACKGROUND: The objective of this paper is to describe a 120 cases experience in the video-assisted technique, performed by the same surgical team. METHODS: Between september 2004 and february 2006, 120 video-assisted thyroidectomies has been performed - 119 females and 1 male. Age: 19 - 58, median 34 years. Indications: suspicion of malignancy, without any cervical surgery, radiotherapy, thyroid volume under 20 cc and nodules under 3 cm. RESULTS: Surgery time: 25 - 180, median time 85 minutes for total and 59 minutes for parcial thyroidectomy. The incision: 1,6 - 3,5cm, median 2,5cm. Four conversions to conventional technique are related. Nerve palsy was observed in 5,8%. There was no hypoparathyroidism or hematoma in this series. All patients were released in the first postoperative day. CONCLUSION: The video assisted approach is a safe procedure, and its complication index is similar to the conventional technique, with advantages in incision size and postoperative evolution. However, more studies are needed to confirm these findings.
Thyroid gland; Thyroidectomy; Video-assisted surgery
