Update on endoscopic cervical surgery.

The onset of cervicoscopy dates back to the first laparoscopic parathyroidectomy in 1996. This operation, with its several variants, has today become a valid option that is widespread in many centers. Endoscopic or video-assisted thyroidectomy was introduced later, despite the limits imposed by the mass of the gland to be removed. Even though it was indicated for a minority of patients for this reason, both parathyroidectomy and thyroidectomy showed some important advantages with respect to conventional surgery, advantages that were also demonstrated in prospective studies that include a better cosmetic outcome and a less distressful postoperative course. These approaches proved to be safe and feasible in any surgical background, and their complication rate is the same as traditional open neck surgery. The videoscopic access to neck lymph nodes (central and lateral compartments) seems to be very promising, whereas other fields of application such as carotid artery surgery and spine surgery are still being studied experimentally. Cervicoscopy by consequence has to be considered an important surgical tool that can be further improved but which also has an excellent potential.