THE HARMONIC SCALPEL APPLICATION IN

As a rule, these operations require the placement of one or more drains in the thyroid place. In recent years, new methods have been introduced in the field of thyroid surgery, such as minimally invasive, video-assisted and open approach techniques, with different access points. They all aim to minimize thyroid tissue trauma while preserving comparable efficiency and safety and providing better cosmetic results1,2,3,4. The implementation of these new techniques is linked with the development of new methods for tissue dissection and ligation of blood vessels such as harmonic scalpel and argon-plasma coagulator. The objective of the current work is to present our experience with the use of harmonic scalpel in the surgery of thyroid gland. PATIENTS AND METHODS For the period from 2008 to 2011,1398 patients at the age between 6 to 74 years, with various thyroid deseases were operated on in our clinic. The resection was performed through a classic Kocher’s collar incision in 583 patients, using minimally ivasive open access in 641 patients and with video-assisted method in 174 patients (table. 1). Table. 1. Use of different surgical approaches in combination with harmonic scalpel. Surgical approach patientsn % Classic Kocher incision 583 41,7 Minimaly invasive open access 641 45,9 Videoassisted technique 174 12,