This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Miccoli, P. Articles by Materazzi, G. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Miccoli, P. Articles by Materazzi, G. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Update on Endoscopic Cervical Surgery

Department of Surgery, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy; Dipartimento di Chirurgia, Via Roma 67, 56126: Pisa, Italy; p.miccoli{at}dc.med.unipi.it

Gabriele Materazzi, MD

Santa Chiara Hospital, Pisa, Italy

The onset of cervicoscopy dates back to the first laparoscopic parathyroidectomy in 1996. This operation, with its several variants, has today become a valid option that is widespread in many centers. Endoscopic or video-assisted thyroidectomy was introduced later, despite the limits imposed by the mass of the gland to be removed. Even though it was indicated for a minority of patients for this reason, both parathyroidectomy and thyroidectomy showed some important advantages with respect to conventional surgery, advantages that were also demonstrated in prospective studies that include a better cosmetic outcome and a less distressful postoperative course. These approaches proved to be safe and feasible in any surgical background, and their complication rate is the same as traditional open neck surgery. The videoscopic access to neck lymph nodes (central and lateral compartments) seems to be very promising, whereas other fields of application such as carotid artery surgery and spine surgery are still being studied experimentally. Cervicoscopy by consequence has to be considered an important surgical tool that can be further improved but which also has an excellent potential.

Surgical Innovation, Vol. 11, No. 3, 139-145 (2004)
DOI: 10.1177/107155170401100303


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?