Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 29, 2025
Transoral Robotic Total Thyroidectomy and Bilateral Central Regional Lymph Node Dissection for Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma
Published on: September 15, 2023
Safety and Efficacy of Transoral Robotic Thyroidectomy for Thyroid Tumor: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Yun Jin Kang1, Jin-Hee Cho1, Gulnaz Stybayeva2
1Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Yeouido St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul 06591, Korea.
Background:
To assess the safety and effectiveness of transoral robotic thyroidectomy (TORT) in thyroid tumor.
Methods:
PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, SCOPUS, Cochrane database, and Google Scholar up to June 2022. Studies comparing outcomes and complications between TORT and control groups (robotic bilateral axillo-breast, trans-axillary, postauricular approach, conventional open thyroidectomy (OT), and transoral endoscopic approach) were analyzed.
Results:
Ten studies of 1420 individuals. The operative time (SMD 1.15, 95%CI [0.48; 1.89]) was significantly longer and the number of retrieved lymph nodes (LNs) (SMD -0.27, 95%CI [-0.39; -0.16]) was fewer in TORT than in the control group. The postoperative cosmetic satisfaction score (SMD 0.60, 95%CI [0.28; 0.92]) was statistically higher in TORT than in the control group. In subgroup analysis, there was no significant difference between robotic surgeries. However, TORT had significantly longer operative times (SMD 2.08, 95%CI [0.95; 3.20]) and fewer retrieved LNs (SMD -0.32, 95%CI [-0.46; -0.17]) than OT. TORT satisfied significantly more patients in cosmetic view. However, it increased hospitalization days and postoperative pain on the operation day and first day compared to OT.
Conclusions:
TORT is not inferior to other robotic-assisted approaches. Its operation time and hospitalization days are longer and postoperative pain is greater than OT, although its cosmetic satisfaction is high.
