Long-term sensory disturbance and discomfort of the neck does not differ between robotic thyroidectomy and conventional open thyroidectomy. However, anterior chest discomfort and sensory disturbance are greater and require longer times to recover after robotic thyroidectomy. Minimizing dissection of the anterior chest should be considered to reduce discomfort and sensory disturbance after robotic thyroidectomy by a GUAB/GUA approach.

Long-term postoperative cosmesis after robotic/endoscopic thyroidectomy using GUAB/GUA approaches is significantly better than conventional open thyroidectomy. In the robotic/endoscopic group, the scarless breasts resulting from the GUA approach lead to greater satisfaction than those after the GUAB approach.

Patients who underwent robotic thyroidectomy reported a higher score for satisfaction with neck appearance compared to patients receiving conventional cervical thyroidectomy. However, the overall HRQOL of patients in the robotic and conventional groups was similar.

No abstract