The team of Jaime Vilaça , Hospital da Luz surgeon, has already performed over 300 thyroid surgeries resorting to innovative endoscopic surgical techniques, that leave no visible scar on the neck. “In Europe, we are the most experienced team in these endoscopic techniques, transaxillary and transoral, from partial thyroidectomy to total thyroidectomy, including oncologic cases”, explains the specialist. Thyroid nodules and malignant tumours are diseases with high incidence in young adults, having great impact in terms of quality of life. “There are patients who refuse a thyroid intervention for fear of mutilating the neck. These techniques leave no mark, do not mutilate as much and have a more favourable postoperative”, stresses Jaime Vilaça, who introduced and has been developing these procedures at Hospital da Luz Arrábida since 2014. Comparatively to thyroid conventional surgery (cervicotomy), the transaxillary or transoral endoscopic thyroidectomy, besides the aesthetical result, allows higher precision and maximum safety (with the neuromonitoring of the nerve in the vocal cord of the side operated, improving its preservation and the vocal quality of the patient). In the postoperative, recovery is faster and less painful. The patients submitted to thyroid surgery at Hospital da Luz Arrábida are followed-up by a multidisciplinary team – with professionals of otorhinolaryngology and speech therapists, besides the general surgeons – and comply with a program of perioperative optimization of the voice and deglutition . This program is initiated, at least, two weeks before the surgery and consists in : Assessment of deglutition, including laryngoscopy to evaluate the vocal cords mobility; voice recording and evaluation with validated surveys of voice and deglutition quality; learning of exercises to practise before and after the surgical intervention. During surgery, monitoring of the vocal cord recurrent laryngeal nerve is performed, which allows to enhance its function and, consequently, the voice. In the postoperative phase, special medication therapy is applied and rehabilitation takes place. In the photo above, Jaime Vilaça’ s team: Beatriz Ferreira (investigator), Inês Carneiro (speech therapist), Jaime Vilaça (General Surgery), Alexandra Correia (Otolaryngology), Hugo Amorim (Otolaryngology), Susana Graça (General Surgery) and Daniela Moreira (Anesthesiology).
