Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 21, 2025
Transoral Robotic Total Thyroidectomy and Bilateral Central Regional Lymph Node Dissection for Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma
Published on: September 15, 2023
Cosmetic outcomes after transoral robotic thyroidectomy: Comparison with transaxillary, postauricular, and
Dong Won Lee1, Hyang Sook Bang2, Jin Hyeok Jeong2
1Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, School of Medicine, Catholic University of Daegu, 33 Duryugongwon-ro 17-gil, Nam-Gu, Daegu 42472, Republic of Korea; Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, College of Medicine, Hanyang University, 222 Wangsimni-ro, Seongdong-gu, Seoul 04763, Republic of Korea.
Objectives:
Transoral thyroidectomy does not involve neck incision, and its postoperative cosmetic outcome is thought to be superior to that of conventional thyroidectomy and other remote-access procedures. This study aimed to compare the cosmetic outcomes between transoral robotic thyroidectomy (TORT) and conventional transcervical thyroidectomy and two common remote-access robotic thyroidectomies via the transaxillary and postauricular approaches.
Materials And Methods:
We analyzed 160 patients who underwent TORT, robotic thyroidectomies via the transaxillary or postauricular approach, or conventional transcervical thyroidectomy (40 patients in each group). The postoperative cosmetic outcomes, including cosmetic satisfaction and scar consciousness scores, were evaluated using self-assessment cosmesis questionnaires at 3 months and 1 year postoperatively. The cosmesis index was defined as the sum of the percentage scores for cosmetic satisfaction and scar consciousness.
Results:
Cosmetic satisfaction scores, scar consciousness scores, and cosmesis indexes were significantly higher for the transoral, transaxillary, and postauricular approaches than the conventional approach at 3 months and 1 year postoperatively. There was a trend of better cosmetic outcomes, especially regarding scar consciousness, for the transoral and transaxillary approaches than for the postauricular approach, but the difference was not statistically significant.
Conclusion:
Postoperative cosmesis of TORT, as well as the transaxillary and postauricular approaches, is superior to that of conventional thyroidectomy. The cosmetic outcomes of the transoral and transaxillary approaches seem to be better than those of the postauricular approach.
