Alternative approaches to the thyroid gland.

Advances in surgical technology and patient-driven demands have fueled exploration into methods to improve cosmetic outcomes in thyroid surgery. This exploration has produced 2 fundamentally different pathways for reducing the visible thyroidectomy scar. Minimally invasive anterior cervical approaches use small incisions hidden in natural skin creases and reduce the overall extent of dissection required to remove the thyroid. Remote access approaches remove the incision from the anterior neck completely but require more extensive dissection to access the thyroid compartment.