Antero mediastinal retrosternal goiter: surgical excision by combined cervical and hybrid robot-assisted approach

Abstract

Most intrathoracic goiters are located in the anterior mediastinum. Surgical resection is usually recommended in case of morbidity associated with the goiter's mass effect or for suspicion of malignancy difficult to diagnose without resection. Intrathoracic goiters are usually resected through a cervical approach, with sternotomy needed in selected cases. We report a case of antero mediastinal retrosternal goiter in old age patient undergoing surgical excision by combined cervical and hybrid robot-assisted approach. All steps of the thoracic procedure were completely performed using the da Vinci robot system with final extension of a port-site incision to extract the specimen. This approach provides more advantages than sternotomy regarding post operative clinical benefits and allows a more accurate surgical resection in the antero-superior mediastinum than conventional thoracoscopy.