First experience of performing transaxillary endoscopic surgery on the endocrine organs of the neck

Introduction. Te Kocher incision remained the only adequate access for operations on the thyroid and parathyroid glands for over 100 years. Te development of technologies made it possible to develop and introduce into clinical practice minimally invasive approaches to the endocrine organs of the neck, one of which is the endoscopic transaxillary.Purpose of the study. To evaluate the results of the frst experience of performing endoscopic operations on the thyroid and parathyroid glands.Materials and methods. From September 2018 to June 2021, 52 transaxillary endoscopic operations on the thyroid gland and 6 endoscopic parathyroidectomies were performed at the Department of Surgery of the Central Clinical Hospital of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Among endoscopic operations on the thyroid gland, 26 thyroidectomies, 17 hemiterioidectomies, and 9 extirpations of the thyroid lobe with an isthmus were performed.Results. Te average time to perform endoscopic operations on the thyroid gland ranged from 82,5-12,1 minutes for hemithyroidectomy to 117.5-21.6 minutes for thyroidectomy about thyroid cancer. Te average bed-day was 4.5 ± 1.2 days. During the frst two days, all patients noted a slight pain syndrome, which was stopped by NSAIDs. Te main advantage of the operation, according to patients, was the absence of an incision in the neck. At the stage of mastering the technique, 2 intraoperative and one postoperative complications were noted.Conclusion. Te frst experience in performing endoscopic transaxillary operations has shown the promising and safe access provided that the standard surgical technique is followed.