Rare surgery to remove neck cyst

19-year-old girl undergoes procedure

A rare endoscopic procedure was done on a 19-year-old girl recently to excise cyst from her neck.

The patient had thyroglossal cyst, a congenital condition.

“The girl had a cyst and the tract which connects the gland to the tongue had thickened, making it difficult for her to swallow. Thyroglossal Cyst is a rare condition causing the patient to have a round swelling in the neck.

“The thyroid gland below (thyro) and is connected by a long tract to the tongue above (glossal). These cysts need to be removed as there can be infection or cancer if left untreated,” explained J.S. Rajkumar, chief laparoscopic surgeon at Lifeline Hospitals.

Avoiding a scar

The usual treatment for such cysts is to slash the neck, and remove it. But it leaves a long scar in the neck, and sometimes two cuts are required, leaving unsightly scars. The doctors wanted to avoid the scar and decided to make minor incisions near the aerolas in the breast.

“We decided to be innovative as we already have the experience of having done 60 thyroid removal surgeries. We decided to excise the cyst through a procedure known as endoscopic sistrunk. We removed the central part of the hyoid bone too,” Dr. Rajkumar explained.

Luckily for the girl, the results of the biopsy of the tissue and bone removed were negative for cancer. Dr. Rajkumar said the occurrence of such cysts was not rare.

We decided to excise the cyst via a procedure called endoscopic sistrunk

J.S. Rajkumar,

Laparoscopic surgeon, Lifeline Hospital