Endoscopic thyroidectomy using the EZ-VANS method.
PURPOSE
Several video-assisted and robotic surgery techniques have been reported for resection of the thyroid and parathyroid glands. Our institute has started performing endoscopic thyroidectomy using the Lap-protector and E·Z-access system, referred to as E·Z-access using video-assisted neck surgery (EZ-VANS). In this report, we evaluate the safety and efficacy of this technique.


METHODS
From January 2007 to September 2014, 110 patients underwent resection of a primary thyroid tumor, 73 who underwent a cervical collar incision (the Open group) and 37 underwent EZ-VANS (the EZ-VANS group).


RESULTS
The average operating time was 159 and 172 min in the Open group and EZ-VANS group, respectively; the amount of blood loss was 46.5 and 54.7 ml, respectively; and the length of hospital stay after surgery was 4.3 and 5.2 days, respectively, with no significant differences observed between the two groups. The learning curve for the EZ-VANS technique was shorter than for open surgery.


CONCLUSIONS
We confirmed that the EZ-VANS technique is a safe and useful method for resection of benign and early malignant thyroid tumors.
['Nagata|Takuya|T|', 'Shimada|Yutaka|Y|', 'Miwa|Takeshi|T|', 'Hashimoto|Isaya|I|', 'Kojima|Hirofumi|H|', 'Okumura|Tomoyuki|T|', 'Tsukada|Kazuhiro|K|']
D004724:Endoscopy D005260:Female D006801:Humans D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D009367:Neoplasm Staging D011788:Quality of Life D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms D013965:Thyroidectomy D016896:Treatment Outcome D020535:Video-Assisted Surgery
Endoscopic thyroidectomy EZ-VANS Lap-protector E·Z-access