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Transoral, minimally invasive organ preservation surgeries are being increasingly used for treatment of laryngopharyngeal carcinomas to avoid the toxicities of combined chemotherapy and radiation therapy regimens. A study by Ozer and colleagues from Ohio Medical Center in Columbus investigated the efficacy, safety, and functional outcomes of transoral tobotic surgery (TORS) supraglotic laryngectomy.
The preliminary study examined the outcomes of 13 of head and neck cancer patients with tumors located in the supraglottic region which is the region of the throat between the base of the tongue and just above the vocal cord. The study found that the use of robot-assisted surgery to remove these tumors through the mouth took only about 25 minutes on average, and that blood loss was minimal - a little more than three teaspoons, or 15.4 milliliters, on average, per patient. No surgical complications were encountered and 11 of the 13 patients could receive oral diet within 24 hours. If, on the other hand, these tumors are removed by performing open surgery on the neck, the operation can take at least 4 hours to perform, require 7 to 10 days of hospitalization on average and require a tracheostomy tube and a stomach tube.The results were published recently in the journal Head and Neck. According to the authors The transoral robotic method enables shorter surgery, less time under anesthesia, a lower risk of complications and shorter hospital stays for these patients and no external surgical incisions for the patient.
Transoral robotic surgery
