Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 29, 2026

Transoral Robotic Total Thyroidectomy and Bilateral Central Regional Lymph Node Dissection for Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma
Published on: September 15, 2023
Feasibility and safety of needle-assisted endoscopic thyroidectomy with lateral neck dissection for papillary thyroid
Bo Wang1, Yu-Jing Weng1, Si-Si Wang1
1Department of Thyroid and Vascular Surgery, Fujian Medical University Union Hospital, Fuzhou, Fujian, China.
Background:
Endoscopic thyroidectomy is popular among patients with cosmetic requirements. However, when lateral neck dissection (LND) is required, endoscopic surgery may be challenging. Therefore, we introduced needle-assisted endoscopic technique to achieve endoscopic LND procedure and evaluated its safety and feasibility in the present study.
Methods:
Medical records of 37 patients who underwent needle-assisted endoscopic thyroidectomy with LND were retrospectively reviewed.
Results:
All of 37 patients had excellent cosmetic outcomes. The mean operative time was 338.2 ± 58.74 minutes. Mean number of lymph nodes retrieved in the lateral was 33.5 ± 11.69 and 15.9 ± 7.51 in the central neck. The rates of transient and permanent hypocalcemia were 32.4% and 2.7% and the rates of transient and permanent recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy were 8.1% and 0%, respectively.
Conclusions:
Needle-assisted endoscopic thyroidectomy with lateral neck dissection shows potential feasibility but further study is needed to better characterize its safety and applicability.
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