Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 23, 2025
Transoral Robotic Total Thyroidectomy and Bilateral Central Regional Lymph Node Dissection for Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma
Published on: September 15, 2023
Truly Scarless Three-Port Transoral Robotic Thyroidectomy: A Feasible and Efficient Alternative to the Four-Port
Moon Young Oh1, Man Hon Tang2, A Jung Chu3
1Department of Surgery, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul Metropolitan Government - Seoul National University Boramae Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
Background:
Transoral robotic thyroidectomy (TORT) has traditionally used a four-port technique. The original three-port approach, which eliminates the axillary port, makes TORT truly scarless. This study compares outcomes between these techniques.
Methods:
A retrospective review was conducted on consecutive patients who underwent TORT lobectomy for thyroid cancer between August 2021 and January 2025. The four-port technique was used until January 2024, after which only the three-port technique was performed.
Results:
Thirty (M:F 6:24) and 59 (M:F 8:51) patients were included in the four-port and three-port groups, respectively. The three-port group had a significantly shorter operation time (107.1 vs. 141.0 min, p < 0.001). Transient recurrent laryngeal nerve injury occurred in one four-port case, while the three-port group had one seroma and one wound inflammation. No cases of conversion to open surgery were observed.
Conclusions:
Truly scarless three-port TORT is a feasible and efficient alternative and may replace four-port TORT for selected thyroidectomy patients.
