The Thermal Pad under the TPS65981 is populated with 20 for thermal relief vias that must be electrically connected to GND. This can be seen in the Figure 12-1 that is not connected to a PCB project. If any of the vias in the footprint are removed for placing components closer to the TPS65981, a minimum of 6 vias must be used for thermal dissipation to the GND planes. If the number of Thermal Relief vias is reduced, the majority of these vias must be placed on the right side of the device by the power path.