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Updated: Apr 1, 2026
Identification and Protection of the Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve during Transoral Robotic Thyroidectomy
Published on: October 24, 2025
Transoral robotic thyroid surgery
James H Clark1, Hoon Yub Kim1, Jeremy D Richmon1
11 Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA ; 2 Department of Surgery, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Abstract:
There is currently significant demand for minimally invasive thyroid surgery; however the majority of proposed surgical approaches necessitate a compromise between minimal tissue dissection with a visible cervical scar or extensive tissue dissection with a remote, hidden scar. The development of transoral endoscopic thyroid surgery however provides an approach which is truly minimally invasive, as it conceals the incision within the oral cavity without significantly increasing the amount of required dissection. The transoral endoscopic approach however presents multiple technical challenges, which could be overcome with the incorporation of a robotic operating system. This manuscript summarizes the literature on the feasibility and current clinical experience with transoral robotic thyroid surgery.
