Abstract
Between October 1998 and November 2001, 13 patients (11 females [84.6%] and two males [15.4%]) who were 20 years of age or younger (range, 11-20 years; mean age, 16 years) and whose average weight was 48 kg (minimum, 34 kg; maximum, 62 kg) underwent video-assisted surgery to treat thyroid pathology in the Department of Surgery of the University of Pisa. They were part of a group of 251 patients managed with a video-assisted technique; 12 (92.3%) underwent lobectomy and one (7.7%) underwent a total thyroidectomy. Histologic examination revealed a benign condition in 11 cases (84.6%) and a malignant lesion of the papillary type in two cases (15.4%). Two patients (15.4%) underwent a second video-assisted operation to perform a complete thyroidectomy because a false-negative result of the histologic examination was obtained during the first operation. No complications developed after the surgery. In our preliminary experience, the results of the minimally invasive video-assisted technique for thyroid surgery appear to be comparable with those of the traditional surgical technique (184 operations for thyroid disease in patients 20 years of age or younger). The appropriateness of the minimally invasive video-assisted technique depends on the volume and histologic type of the nodule; the technique cannot be used in patients with a voluminous goiter, a medullary carcinoma, or a poorly differentiated carcinoma. The technique offers the advantages of a better aesthetic result (particularly important in young patients), a shorter hospital stay, and less postoperative pain.
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