THYROGLOSSAL DUCT CYSTS IN CHILDREN : DIAGNOSTIC AND SURGICAL APPROACH

Abstract

Thyroglossal duct cysts (TDCs) are congenital cervical malformations. Their percentage is found to be between 70% and 75% of the midline swellings of the neck in the pediatric population. The aim of our study is to evaluate the epidemiological, clinical and therapeutic data and to try to determine the elements that may explain the occurrence of complications and recurrences by retrospective analysis of a series of 32 patients consecutive with TDCs managed in the Infant Surgery Department "A" at the Children's Hospital of Rabat, between 2015 and 2020. Analysis of distribution based on age and gender shows male predominance (62,5% of cases). The mean age of the female patients at presentation is 6,63 years with extremes ranging from 3 years to 11 years while the mean age of the male patients is 6,71 years with extremes ranging from 1 years to 15 years. The most affected age group is between 6 to 12 years. The usual clinical presentation is a cervical mass, movable, non-tender, sometimes elevating during swallowing or protrusion of the tongue. In the majority of cases, the location of the cysts is median and supra-hyoid. Cervical ultrasound is performed in all patients, showing a typical appearance of the cyst and verifying the normal position of the thyroid. Surgery by the Sistrunk procedure remains the treatment of choice. However, new recommendations for surgical techniques have been proposed in the literature such as surgical endoscopy and robotic surgery in the management of thyroglossal duct cysts, but despite their satisfactory results, there is a need for more multicenter studies based on a larger population to compare head and neck robotic surgeries with other surgical techniques.