A novel surgery technique: non-visual dissection for establishing the operating space during total endoscopic thyroidectomy.

BACKGROUND: Patients and surgeons are typically satisfied with the cosmetic results of total endoscopic thyroidectomy using the complete areola approach. However, the disadvantages of this approach include an excessive free flap and a longer operative time.

METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted in 72 patients (64 women and 8 men) with a benign thyroid nodule who underwent non-unvisual dissection to establish the operating space for endoscopic surgery.

RESULTS: The time needed to create the operating space in the chest was 6.43 ± 0.94 min. The time for the overall operating space was 15.35 ± 1.52 min. The overall surgical time was 96.54 ± 19.32 min. The flap area in the chest was 30.25 ± 3.42 cm2 .

CONCLUSIONS: Application of non-visual dissection shorten the time to create operating space and the overall surgical time, and markedly reduced the flap area. Our non-unvisual dissection technique for establishing the operating space is different from any previous techniques.