October 19, 2022

Thyroidectomy

Indications for thyroidectomy are:

  1. Thyroid cancer, or the suspicious fine needle biopsy result.
  2. The diving goiter, when it causes pressure phenomena from the trachea.
  3. Uncontrolled hyperthyroidism.
  4. The positivity to the RET oncogene
  5. When conservative treatment fails.
  6. Aesthetic reasons

* The patient should always be referred by an endocrinologist

* Before surgery, the vocal cords should be checked by an ENT specialist

THE SURGERY

  1. In almost all cases of thyroid disease, a total thyroidectomy is performed. In some cases, cervical lymph node cleansing may also be necessary.
  2. The surgery is performed under general anesthesia, and lasts as long as necessary to remove even the last thyroid cell, to identify and preserve the upper laryngeal nerves, the lower laryngeal nerves (right and left) and usually all 4 parathyroid bodies
  3. To remove the gland we use ultrasound scissors (for better hemostasis and less post-operative pain)
  4. we always use the neurostimulator (neuromonitoring), in order to avoid any damage to the laryngeal nerves in cases of anatomical variations in the course of the nerves
  5. Great emphasis is placed on ensuring the integrity of the parathyroid glands.
  6. The patient wakes up, without pain and patient mobilization is immediate. Recovery is rapid.

The identification and preservation of the recurrent laryngeal nerves, the identification and preservation of the 4th parathyroid glands and the removal of the entire thyroid are the 3 main interrelated actions that presuppose each other and guarantee that the patient will not have postoperative complications and that regardless of the histological diagnosis will have no future problems