Robot-assisted transaxillary thyroid surgery-retrospective analysis of anthropometric features

The vast majority of studies published on robot-assisted thyroid surgery are South Korean. This study aims to assess the impact of certain anthropometric parameters on performing robot-assisted thyroid surgery on Caucasian patients.

A total of 91 patients underwent robot-assisted surgery by the axillary approach in the Fifth Surgical Clinic, City Hospital Cluj-Napoca, between 2010 and 2015. Besides the specific clinical and pathological parameters, a series of anthropometric parameters and the postoperative occurrence of skin disorders in the cervical or subclavicular region were determined for each patient.

There was an increase in dissection time and console time, which was directly proportional to the patients' body mass index. There were no statistically significant differences in the incidence of postoperative complications in patients with different body mass indices. The postoperative drainage volume was significantly higher in overweight or obese patients. The time needed to visualize the thyroid lodge was longer in patients with wider shoulders, and there was a negative correlation between neck length and console time. A statistically significant direct correlation was found between the clavicle length-neck length ratio and the duration of the entire intervention. There was no significant influence of any of these parameters on the duration of hospitalization or the occurrence of other postoperative complications.

The nutritional status of the patients and the other anthropometric parameters influenced the duration and difficulty of the intervention, without affecting its safety in terms of intra- and postoperative- complications.