The surgical techniques for removal of thyroid malignant nodules and tumours have experienced great advancement in the last few years and, since 2014, the surgeon Jaime Vilaça has been performing, at Hospital da Luz Arrábida, the transaxillary endoscopic thyroidectomy – a video-assisted endoscopic surgical technique, by neck remote approach, that leaves no visible scar . “We are one of the hospital groups with the highest volume of patients treated, in Europe, with this technique”, states Jaime Vilaça, whose team carried out recently the 200 th surgery of the kind. Thyroid malignant nodules and tumours are quite common , but with a higher incidence in young adults and a large impact in terms of quality of life. “There are patients refusing to have a thyroid intervention, for fear of mutilating the neck. But this technique does not leave any marks, brings less mutilation and has a more favourable postoperative”, explains Jaime Vilaça. Compared with thyroid traditional surgery (cervicotomy), transaxillary endoscopic thyroidectomy offers the following advantages: A better aesthetical result (no scar in the neck, allowing higher discretion); Higher surgical precision, through better vision (the image is optimized in light distribution and transmitted on a high-definition screen, that magnifies ten times the size of the different structures); Maximum safety, with neuromonitoring of the nerve that innervates the vocal cord on the operated side, improving its preservation and the patient’s vocal quality. It also allows fluorescence of the parathyroid glands, ensuring the blood irrigation of these small glands. Faster recovery and minor pain in postoperative, which can be controlled using paracetamol. In the photo above , the Hospital da Luz Arrábida team: Paulo Vilarigues (neuromonitoring technician), nurse Cátia Rodrigues (instrumentalist), Jaime Vilaça (main surgeon), Susana Graça (surgeon) and Nuno Alegre (anaesthesiologist).
