Authors' recommendations: The evidence available to date indicates that robot-assisted endoscopic thyroidectomy is feasible and appears to be relatively safe. The procedure is substantially more time consuming compared with open surgery; however, there is some evidence that overall procedure time will decrease with experience. It is important to note that long-term data on recurrence rates for patients treated for thyroid cancer is lacking and most trials to date are limited to case series studies. Considering the fact that the da Vinci system is gaining acceptance within the field of otolaryngology, it is likely that more studies on this procedure will be published in the near future. Additional research on the various approaches that can be used (transaxillary, BABA etc.) is also required.Based on the limited evidence available, robot-assisted endoscopic thyroidectomy should be attempted in a clinical trial setting with a select patient group. Additional long-term studies are warranted, as robotic surgery continues to diffuse widely across various surgical specialties. It is recommended that robot-assisted endoscopic thyroidectomy be monitored for 12 months for additional evidence of its long-term effectiveness.

Project Status: Completed

URL for project: http://www.horizonscanning.gov.au/internet/horizon/publishing.nsf/Content/8DA46B03741CB76FCA2577570016E96C/$File/PS%20Robot-assisted%20thyroidectomy.pdf

Year Published: 2010

English language abstract: An English language summary is available

Publication Type: Not Assigned

Country: Australia

Organisation Name: Australian Safety and Efficacy Register of New Interventional Procedures-Surgical

Contact Address: ASERNIP-S 24 King William Street, Kent Town SA 5067 Australia Tel: +61 8 8219 0900

Contact Name: racs.asernip@surgeons.org

Contact Email: racs.asernip@surgeons.org

Copyright: Australian Safety and Efficacy Register of New Interventional Procedures - Surgical (ASERNIP-S)