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Operative Techniques in Otolaryngology (2013) 24, 69

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Introduction

In recent years, otolaryngology has seen a tremendousincrease in the application of minimally invasive surgery.The evolution of minimally invasive surgery in otolaryng-ology began with the advent and popular adoption ofendoscopic sinus surgery in the early 1990s. Since then,endoscopy has experienced a steady rise in popularity, thathas for the most part, been driven by improved patientoutcomes and reduced facial scaring.

The pioneering work of Hockstein, Weinstein, andcolleagues has brought robotic surgery to bear on the fieldsof otolaryngology and head and neck surgery. In particular,the advent of transoral robotic surgery for the resection oforopharyngeal malignancies has started a pendulum swingto repopularize primary surgical therapy for the managementof patients with early-stage oropharyngeal cancer.

Although robotic surgery was initially described for themanagement of patients with oropharyngeal cancer, the fieldhas rapidly expanded to include applications for supraglotticcarcinomas, reconstruction for surgical defects created by

t matter r 2013 Published by Elsevier Inc.16/j.otot.2013.06.002

transoral robotic surgery, and for management of benigndiseases of the upper aerodigestive tract.

Simultaneously, the desire to avoid cervical incisions hasprompted surgeons to apply robotic technology to access theneck. These applications include thyroidectomy, and morerecently, cervical lymphadenectomy. Overall, robotic surgerycan be seen as an area of tremendous growth in otolaryngol-ogy and head and neck surgery.

In this issue of Operative Techniques in Otolaryngology,the world's experts in robotic surgery have contributed theirthoughts and technical expertise on how to perform thesecutting-edge surgical operations. We hope that the reader isable to apply these concepts for the improved managementof patients with head and neck disorders and eventuallyextend these concepts and seek to apply them to providebetter care of patients with challenging problems.

Umamaheswar Duvvuri, MD, PhDGuest Editor