Purpose: To determine the feasibility of gasless endoscopic thyroid surgery becoming a standard thyroid operation.
Methods: We retrospectively examined the surgical results of 191 patients who underwent thyroid operations at our hospital between December 1999 and June 2003. We also conducted a survey based on a questionnaire sent to 150 patients who underwent thyroid surgery between December 1999 and September 2002.
Results: Although gasless endoscopic thyroid surgery took significantly longer to perform than conventional open surgery, the postoperative stay was significantly shorter and patients had fewer complaints about their surgical scar.
Conclusions: These results indicate that although there are some challenges to overcome, especially the long operative time, gasless endoscopic thyroid surgery could become a standard procedure.