[Minimally invasive video-assisted thyroid resection (MIVAT)--a well accepted operative procedure]

We report on our results of MIVAT operations.

Nineteen Patients including 15 females and 4 males were operated with MIVAT, corresponding to 11 % of all patients undergoing an operation for benign goitre in our hospital. A single node of the thyroid gland within 30 mm and enlargement of a thyroid lobe up to 25 ml were the selection criteria. The median age was 34 years (range 16-61). We performed 2 thyroidectomies, 6 Hartley-Dunhill resections, 9 hemihyroidectomies and 2 enucleations. Eighteen patients (95 %) were followed-up postoperatively. The median follow-up period was 8 months (range 1 -21).

The median operation time was 83 min (range 60-124). The median preoperative thyroid gland volume was 25 ml (range 10-54) measured by ultrasound. The resected thyroid tissue ranged from 12 to 51 g (median 29 g). A statistical significant difference (P = 0.04 paired t-test) between the preoperative and postoperative estimated serum-calcium levels (2.31 vs. 2.25 mM) was observed. But both parameters were inside the physiological range. Paresis of the recurrent laryngeal nerve was not observed. 89 % of the patients rated the postoperative cosmetic result as very good and all patients would prefer this operation procedure once again.

The MIVAT procedure is a safe operation also in small groups with excellent cosmetic results postoperatively and a high acceptance by the patients.