Scarless Thyroid and Parathyroid Surgery – Introduction

Thyroid surgery is amongst the most common surgical procedures performed in current times. The leading hospitals in India for thyroid cancer surgery have witnessed the occurrence of identification of thyroid nodules and the consequent diagnosis of thyroid cancer getting increased by multiple times.

Scarless Thyroid and Parathyroid Surgery in India is a very new technique of removing a part or all of your thyroid gland without leaving any scar in your neck. This surgery can be done in two ways – Robotically and Transoral. Scarless thyroid surgery is the most advanced form of thyroid surgery and is done only by a handful of surgeons across the globe.

Thyroid Nodules – Symptoms and Diagnosis

• Thyroid is a small gland positioned at the base of your neck (just above the breastbone). When you observe any sort of solid or fluid filled lump getting formed within your thyroid, you should know that it could be thyroid nodule.
• Mostly these nodules do not cause any major symptoms and only a minor percentage of them get diagnosed to be cancerous. When they start growing larger in size, they can be felt or seen as swelling.
• Doctors at the best thyroid cancer treatment centres in India have excellent expertise in diagnosis of thyroid nodules. While diagnosing thyroid nodules, they aim at ruling out the possibility of cancer.

Below tests are advised for diagnosis of thyroid nodules –

• Thyroid Function Test (TSH)
• Ultrasound
• Fine-needle Aspiration Biopsy
• Thyroid Scan

All these tests help in diagnosing presence of thyroid nodules and ruling out if these nodules are cancerous or non-cancerous.

What is a Scarless Thyroidectomy Surgery?

• Scarless Transoral Thyroidectomy or you may say Transoral Vestibular Approach (TOVA) surgery is the one that allows for safe and complete removal of your thyroid or parathyroid glands with unquestionably no external scarring to your neck area.
• Of all the known scarless thyroid surgeries, this transoral technique is the only one which is truly scarless!
• Although other kinds of thyroid and parathyroid techniques would not leave any prominent scar on your neck, they do leave behind a scar at the incision point.
• The biggest advantage of TOVA is that – It conserves the natural appearance of your neck and simultaneously leaves no external clue of the operation; and also offers a speedy and easy recovery.
• Benefits of the TOVA are two-fold: It preserves the natural appearance of the neck and leaves no external reminder of the operation and provides a quick and easy recovery.

What is Scarless Robotic Thyroid Surgery?

• The traditional thyroid surgery results in quite a visible and unwanted scar in the neck area. This scar is so noticeable that it may make you look unattractive. But you need not worry about that anymore!
• The best doctor for scarless thyroid surgery in India uses completely new and advanced surgical technique to ensure that your surgery is done with fully scarless technique.
• There are 2 main techniques –
  • Robotic Thyroidectomy, and
  • Transoral Endoscopic Thyroidectomy (TOET)
• Out of these two, the Robotic Thyroidectomy approach is the best.99% of people looking for a scarless approach choose this technique for their treatment.

What happens during Robotic Thyroidectomy Surgery?

• Robotic thyroidectomy removes the scope of having a neck scar by reaching out to the thyroid gland via an incision under your arm. This is known as an axillary approach. The incision is hardly 5 to 7 cm long, and it remains hidden, unlike neck incisions. There would be another very minor incision of around 5mmin your chest.
• This surgery is done through the use of daVinci Surgical System (a system that is commonly used in most of the robot-assisted successful surgeries). The daVInci system has 3 main parts – a 3D camera, four robotic hands and a Console from where your doctor controls the camera and the robot hands.
• Your surgeon who is trained and certified in performing robotic surgeries, inserts the four robotic hands and the 3D camera through the incisions. He or she then precisely removes part or all of the thyroid, depending upon what your medical need is.
• Just like other surgeries, Robotic thyroid surgery is also done under general anaesthesia. There are 4 small incisions that are made along the skin folds of your left and right armpits and also the areolar margins. Then the robotic instruments are positioned through the fat layers under your skin in order to reach out to the front of your neck area under the skin.
• The surgeon sits at the console near you and operates by navigating the robotic hands and camera. The advanced camera helps him see the detailed view of thyroid and its surrounding tissues.

Does Robotic Thyroid Surgery Help in saving the Parathyroid Glands?

• As you would know, we have two parathyroid glands on each side adjacent to our thyroid gland. These glands help in controlling the blood calcium levels and are closely associated with our thyroid gland in the sense that they share the same blood supply.
• Any damage to your parathyroid glands can be a serious problem after thyroid surgery. And therefore, early diagnosis and accurate dissection are crucial to preventing such complications.
• Robotic surgery is therefore a safe option through which your healthy parathyroid glands can be easily saved.

What to Expect post your Scarless Thyroid and Parathyroid Surgery in India?

• Your surgery would require only an overnight stay in the hospital and thus you can expect to get discharged the very next day.
• During the initial 2 to 3 days post discharge, you may experience sore throat, neck stiffness or scratched voice which is absolutely normal. These symptoms would gradually go away within the next week to 10 days.

Who is a potential candidate for Scarless Thyroid and Parathyroid Surgery?

Anyone who requires surgeryfor removing the thyroid or parathyroid glands is a potential candidate for this surgery. Nevertheless, some limiting factors like – the size of the affected gland and the primary condition do exist.

Patients with the following conditions may be suitable candidates for the scarless thyroid surgery –

• Benign thyroid nodule which is less than 6 cm
• Thyroid cancer nodule which is less than 2 cm
• Primary hyperparathyroidism
• Removal of thyroid for benign conditions

The scarless approach of surgery reduces the risk of complications. It is a safe and highly effective technique for anyone looking for safe and scarless surgery in India for thyroid cancer.