Institutional experience of 200 consecutive papillary thyroid carcinoma patients in transoral robotic thyroidectomy surgeries

Background: We evaluated the outcomes of patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) who underwent transoral robotic thyroidectomy (TORT). Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the perioperative outcomes of 200 patients (170 women and 30 men) with PTC who underwent TORT at a single center between March 2016 and February 2018. Results: There were 182 and 13 cases of lobectomy and total thyroidectomy, respectively, with corresponding mean operative times of 200.6 ± 31.2 and 265.7 ± 63.0 minutes. On average, 5.6 ± 3.45 lymph nodes were retrieved per patient. There were 12 cases of perioperative morbidity. No conversion to endoscopic or conventional open surgery was noted. In a subgroup analysis for predictors of difficult TORT, patient sex was the only factor showing a significant operative time difference between a difficult and a nondifficult thyroidectomy. Conclusion: TORT can be performed safely in patients with PTC without serious complications.