Minimally-invasive endocrine neck surgery.

Minimally invasive approaches for endocrine surgery of the neck are the result of efforts by several surgeons to extrapolate to neck surgery the proven benefits of minimally invasive techniques from other regions of the body, including less pain, morbidity and hospital stay. However, the main argument that led to the introduction of these techniques was the improvement of esthetic results. Endoscopic and robotic remote-access endocrine neck approaches through small incisions have been developed over the last 25 years and are constantly being refined. The objective of this review is to determine the current state of the literature through a systematic evaluation of the different techniques available in minimally invasive endocrine surgery of the neck, either with or without remote access, by describing their main characteristics and evaluating their advantages, disadvantages and controversies, while discussing their role and future in neck surgery.