Kathryn Barley can finally find time to sit down and relax. It wasn't too long ago the bump on her thyroid gland caused too much pain for her to do anything at all.
Reseachers estimate that 50 percent of the world's population have the same issue. One-in-every-15 women have a thyroid nodule, compared to one-in-every-50 men. Barley balked on the idea of surgery out of fear for the likely three-inch scar it would leave on her neck. "Thyroid surgery is fairly common, and it's one of the most common growing endocrine problems requiring surgery," says Amelia Grover, MD Assistant Professor Division of Surgical Oncology Department of Surgery. Dr. Grover unveiled a new procedure, by cutting underneath the armpit, and then routing to the neck there would be no visible scar. The Food and Drug Administration recently approved the Davinci Robot for this specific surgery, which uses 3-D cameras and robotic arms. The surgery runs three hours, slightly longer than the neck incision procedure, but the benefits are obvious. Barley is one of the first in the country to have this surgery. "I think the true mark of a successful surgery is to resume your life and forget that you ever had the surgery." says Barley. A week after the procedure she was back to her old self, no scare, no scar, no problems. Clinical trials are underway to assess the level of confidence gained from this type of surgery. It's hypothesized that women, especially, will feel more confident in public with no visible surgical scar.Breakthough leads to scarless thryoid surgery
NEW YORK
This common problem until now has left patients with the only option of neck surgery, which usually leaves patients with nasty scarring. The good news is that doctors have found a newly approved procedure that is scarless.
