The clinical application of mental nerve dissection in transoral endoscopic thyroidectomy via an oral vestibular approach

Background Transoral endoscopic thyroidectomy vestibular approach is the natural orifice surgery to avoid surgical scars. However, mental nerve injury is a characteristic complication. Herein, we report the development of a novel method to dissect the mental nerve proactively during surgery to minimize the morbidity from mental nerve injury. Methods In this study, a total of 105 patients from June 2016 to February 2018 were categorized as the mental nerve dissection group (MND) or not mental nerve dissection group (NMND). We analyzed the demographics, operative data, hospital stay, pathologic results, and postoperative complications between the two groups. Results There were no significant differences with respect to age, gender, tumor size, extent of surgery, the amount of bleeding, or postoperative hospitalization between groups. The specimen removal time was shorter in the MND group. The average operation time in both groups was similar, but the operation time for a hemithyroidectomy with CND in the MND group was shorter than in the NMND group. The VAS pain scores and complication rates that included transient hypocalcemia, seroma, subcutaneous emphysema, transient, and permanent recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy did not differ significantly between groups. In terms of mental nerve injury, the morbidity rate in the MND group was lower than in the NMND group. Conclusions The modified endoscopic thyroidectomy involving dissection of the mental nerve via the oral vestibular approach is safe and feasible. It is beneficial to protect the mental nerve and for specimen removal which is worth clinical promotion.