Short-stay thyroid surgery (<24 h hospital stay) is becoming increasingly popular but some potentially lethal complications are considered strong arguments against shortening hospitalization after thyroidectomy. The authors reviewed the data of 1,571 patients undergoing one-day thyroid surgery over a 3-year period to determine safety and patient satisfaction. There were 1,244 females and 327 males. Mean age was 43 years. Patient satisfaction was evaluated by a questionnaire given on discharge, while post-discharge surgical recovery was analyzed by the PSR scale. Total thyroidectomy was performed in 1,119 patients (71%), hemithyroidectomy in 450 (29%), isthmusectomy in 2. Morbidity occurred in 152 patients (9.6%). Surgical complications were transient hypocalcemia in 112 cases and permanent hypoparathyroidism in 3; monolateral transient nerve palsy occurred in 10 cases, bilateral in 3; definitive monolateral recurrent palsy in 4 cases. Bleeding requiring re-intervention occurred in 10 cases, wound complications in 5 cases, and intraoperative tracheal lesion in 1 patient. Among complicated patients, 129 (84.8%) were treated after discharge as outpatients. Conversion to inpatient treatment occurred in 28 patients (1.7%) (25 for surgical reasons). Four patients (0.2%) required hospital readmission. Patients were very satisfied in 84.2%, satisfied in 9.5%, poorly satisfied in 4.3%, completely unsatisfied in 2%. Postoperative recovery mean score by PSR scale resulted in 85.14% (0–100%). Our results confirm that the one-day surgery model is safe, effective, and highly agreeable in patients undergoing surgery for thyroid disease.

Post-thyroidectomy neck hematoma represents a major concern for surgeons because it can result in severe and even life-threatening complications. In fact, postoperative hemorrhage may result in airway compression and respiratory distress, and therefore, effective hemostasis is an important goal in thyroid surgery. Postoperative hematoma occurs at a rate of approximately 0.1% to 1.1%. Almost all cases occur in the first 6 h after surgery and can be the result of several surgeon or patient factors. For many years the clamp-and-tie technique has been the most common way to divide the main vascular pedicles of the thyroid gland. Alternatively, bipolar electrocautery has been used for only very small vessels. Other hemostatic systems have been introduced and proved to be potentially very useful in neck surgery and, in particular, for thyroid surgery. This new class of instruments is generally known as “energy devices” because they use different forms of energy, such as advanced bipolar (LigaSure^TM Small Jaw Medtronic, Covidien product, Mineapolis, MN, USA) and ultrasound (Harmonic Focus; Ethicon, Johnson and Johnson, Cincinnati, OH, USA), and hybrid devices that join these two technologies (Thunderbeat by Olympus, Japan). Although they all generate a significant elevation of temperature in the tissues, as in any form of energy, the temperatures reached by these instruments are never as high as the standard monopolar electrocautery. For small bleeding very close to critical structures, where energy devices are too dangerous to be used and clamp and tie is not possible, several studies have assessed the use of adjunctive hemostatic agents. In conclusion, all energy devices have been shown to significantly decrease operative times without increasing costs or complications. Adjunctive hemostatic agents have shown equivalent differences when added to standard methods from a clinically significant perspective.

The number of thyroid cancers is increasing. Standard treatment usually includes primary surgery, thyroid-stimulating hormone suppressive therapy, and ablation of the thyroid remnant with radioactive iodine (RAI). Despite the generally good prognosis of thyroid carcinoma, about 5% of patients will develop metastatic disease, which fails to respond to RAI, exhibiting a more aggressive behavior. The lack of specific, effective and well-tolerated drugs, the scarcity of data about the association of multi-targeting drugs, and the limited role of radioiodine for dedifferentiated thyroid cancer, call for further efforts in the field of new drugs development. Rearranged during transfection (RET)/papillary thyroid carcinoma gene rearrangements, BRAF (B-RAF proto-oncogene, serine/threonine kinase) gene mutations, RAS (rat sarcoma) mutations, and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 angiogenesis pathways are some of the known pathways playing a crucial role in the development of thyroid cancer. Targeted novel compounds have been demonstrated to induce clinical responses and stabilization of disease. Sorafenib has been approved for differentiated thyroid cancer refractory to RAI.

Currently, laparoscopic adrenalectomy is worldwide considered the gold standard technique. Both transperitoneal and retroperitoneal approaches have proved their efficacy with excellent outcomes. Since the introduction of da Vinci System (Intuitive Surgical, Sunnyvale, CA), robotic surgery has made many steps forward gaining progressively more diffusion in the field of general and endocrine surgery. The robotic technique offers advantages to overcome some laparoscopic shortcomings (rigid instruments, loss of 3D vision, unstable camera). Indeed, the robotic system is provided of stereoscopic 3D-magnified vision, additional degree of freedom, tremor-filtering technology and a stable camera. Recently, several case series have demonstrated the feasibility and the safety of robot-assisted adrenalectomy in high-volume centers with outcomes comparable to laparoscopic adrenalectomy. Notwithstanding, the technical advantages of the robotic system have not yet demonstrated significant improvements in terms of outcomes to undermine laparoscopic adrenalectomy. Moreover, robotic adrenalectomy harbor inherits drawbacks, such as longer operative time and elevated costs, that limit its use. In particular, the high cost associated with the use of the robotic system is primarily related to the purchase and the maintenance of the unit, the high instruments cost and the longer operative time. Notably, these aspects make robotic adrenalectomy up to 2.3 times more costly than laparoscopic adrenalectomy. This literature review summarizes the current available studies and provides an overview about the robotic scenario including applicability, technical details and surgical outcomes.