Resection of huge retrosternal goiter through a novel combined cervical and robot-assisted approach

A 53-year-old man was referred to our department with a history of cough, especially at night, for 3 months. He was found to have a huge retrosternal goiter. We applied a novel combined cervical and robot-assisted approach to resect this difficult goiter. Using the da Vinci robot system, the intrathoracic part of the goiter was dissected and mobilized completely from the mediastinum to the inlet of the thorax. The dissected part of the goiter was left in the thorax. A right cervical half-collar incision about 6 cm was then performed. The goiter was finally removed from the neck incision. Histopathologic examination reported a multinodular goiter. By the method shown in the case, resection of huge retrosternal goiters through a combined cervical and robot-assisted approach is feasible and safe. This method provides an alternative option to the more invasive traditional approaches.