Background: The transoral endoscopic thyroidectomy vestibular approach (TOETVA) has been the subject of increasing interest from several institutions around the world over the last 2 years. Recently, we successfully performed TOETVA in live human patients without CO2 gas using our newly designed retractable blade.
Methods: We reviewed the medical records of 15 consecutive patients who underwent gasless TOETVA using a self-retaining retractor.
Results: We successfully performed 13 thyroid lobectomies and 2 total thyroidectomies in 15 patients. No patient exhibited serious postoperative complications such as recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy and permanent hypocalcemia. One patient developed transient hypocalcemia but recovered within 2 months. No patient developed a wound infection; furthermore, no visible scar or dimpling was evident on the neck of any patient.
Conclusion: Gasless TOETVA provides enough working space and good visibility to perform thyroid surgery without any risk of CO2 gas-related complications.
Keywords: Endoscopy; Minimally invasive surgical procedure; TOETVA; Thyroid; Thyroidectomy; Transoral; Transoral thyroidectomy.