Modified Radical Neck Dissection for Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma via a Combined Endoscopy Approach: The Transoral Approach and the Chest Approach

Recently, modified radical neck dissection (MRND) for papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) has been performed by the transoral endoscopic approach.¹ However, dissection of level II lymph nodes using only the transoral approach is highly difficult because of the inadequate axis of surgical view. Hence, we decided to combine the transoral and chest approaches to perform MRND. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first video case of MRND using the combined approach.

A 35-year-old woman was diagnosed with cT1aN1bM0 right PTC (metastatic to right level III lymph nodes). The patient underwent total thyroidectomy, bilateral central neck dissection (CND), and right MRND via a combined endoscopic approach: the transoral and chest approaches. Total thyroidectomy and bilateral central neck dissection were performed via the transoral approach, similar to prior studies.^2–6 The chest approach can help the surgeon to perform level II and the transoral approach was used to dissect the lymph node of levels III and IV.

The total time for total thyroidectomy, bilateral CND, and right MRND was 190 min. The time for MRND was 90 min. The number of harvested lymph nodes were 14 in the right lateral compartments, and the number of metastatic lymph nodes were 2 in the lateral compartments. There were no major postoperative complications. The patient was completely satisfied with the cosmetic result.

The combined approach of the transoral and chest approaches was sufficient to perform total thyroidectomy and MRND for levels II, III, and IV.