History of goiter. Part 2: surgical approach

Abstract

Goiter has been present in mankind for several millennia. A multidisciplinary approach to its etiology and treatment has progressed throughout history because of the contribution from revered scientists, in a path mined with controversy and great advances. We had previously reviewed the history of the approach to our current knowledge on goiter. In this paper we include in our historical review notions on surgical approach. The effort of counted surgeons, whose perseverance and determination coincided with a series of breakthroughs in medicine, were key to the development of the current surgical approach to thyroid surgery. This approach is still in constant renovation, to the point that it is now suffering a process of profound transformation that is compatible with the new trends in minimally invasive surgery.