Video-assisted open thyroid lobectomy through a small incision

To examine if postoperative morbidity may occur in gasless video-assisted thyroid lobectomy, 111 patients with solitary nodules were treated either by gasless video-assisted lobectomy or by conventional lobectomy. Operating time needed for video-assisted lobectomy significantly exceeded that needed for conventional surgery. No death, massive hemorrhage, wound hematoma, wound infection, or permanent recurrent laryngeal nerve injury occurred in patients treated by either video-assisted or conventional lobectomy. Damage to the external branch of the superior laryngeal nerve occurred in 6 (10.2%) patients following conventional surgery but in no patients following video-assisted lobectomy (P = .0289). Transient recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy occurred in 5 (8.5%) patients after conventional surgery and in 3 (5.8%) patients after video-assisted surgery (P = .7209). It is noteworthy that morbidity occurs in video-assisted lobectomy. The general principles of thyroid surgery should be followed to avoid the occurrence of complications.