Transoral Robotic Thyroidectomy

Development of various techniques to eliminate a visible scar in thyroid surgery has been attempted throughout in order to minimize the cosmetic and quality- of-life impact on patients from a surgical scar. Most remote-access approaches to the thyroid gland thus far have required significantly more tissue dissection yet still have a problem gaining limited access to treat contralateral disease. As the most recent tactic of “scarless” thyroidectomy, the transoral approach, in combination with the cutting-edge robotic equipment technology, offers various advantages over other techniques including less tissue dissection, equivalent access to both sides of the thyroid gland, and an excellent midline view of the neck anatomy. Herein, we present a comprehensive overview of transoral robotic thyroidectomy (TORT).