Comparison of Quality of Life After Transoral Robotic and Transoral Videolaryngoscopic Surgeries for Head and Neck Cancer

Objectives: Transoral robotic surgery (TORS) and transoral videolaryngoscopic surgery (TOVS) have been increasingly adopted for the treatment of head and neck tumors. However, their effectiveness and the differences in their effects on postoperative quality of life (QOL) have not been established. We aimed to evaluate and compare the postoperative QOL of patients who underwent TORS and TOVS. Methods: This study included 103 patients with head and neck tumors treated with TOVS (83 patients) and TORS (20 patients) between 2016 and 2024. QOL was assessed preoperatively and 1, 3, 6, 12, and 18 months postoperatively using QOL questionnaires (EORTC QLQ-C30 and QLQ-H&N35). Results: Pain and mouth opening limitation were significantly worse at 1 month postoperatively than preoperatively for the TOVS and TORS groups. However, when comparing both groups, no statistically significant difference was observed in postoperative QOL symptom scores, including pain and mouth opening limitation. Multivariate analysis revealed that pain was associated with neck dissection, and mouth opening limitation was associated with neck dissection and oropharyngeal cancer. Conclusion: Postoperative QOL after TORS and TOVS was associated with pain and mouth opening limitation. However, no statistically significant difference in postoperative QOL was observed between TOVS and TORS. Level of Evidence: 3.