Thyroid surgery
Thyroid surgery involves removing all or a portion of the thyroid gland. A doctor will perform this surgery in a hospital while the patient is under general anesthesia. The thyroid is a small gland shaped like a butterfly. It’s located in the lower front part of the neck. The thyroid produces hormones that the blood carries to every tissue in the body. It helps regulate metabolism. Sometimes the thyroid produces too much hormone. It may also develop structural problems, such as swelling and the growth of cysts or nodules. Thyroid surgery may be necessary when these problems occur.
Reasons for thyroid surgery
The most common reason for thyroid surgery is the presence of nodules or tumors on the thyroid gland. Most nodules are benign, but some can be cancerous or precancerous. Even benign nodules can cause problems if they grow large enough to obstruct the throat, or if they stimulate the thyroid to overproduce hormones. Surgery can correct hyperthyroidism. Hyperthyroidism is frequently the result of an autoimmune disorder called Graves’ disease. Another reason for thyroid surgery is the swelling or enlargement of the thyroid gland. This is referred to as a goiter. Like large nodules, goiters can block the throat and interfere with eating, speaking, and breathing.
Risks of thyroid surgery
As with every major surgery, thyroid surgery could carries some risks such as:
- heavy bleeding
- infection
- damage to the recurrent laryngeal nerves (nerves connected to your vocal cords)
- damage to the parathyroid glands
Thyroid Surgery with nerve monitoring device
Recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) injury is an intractable complication of thyroidectomy. Intraoperative nerve monitoring (IONM) was designed to prevent RLN injury. However, the results concerning the protective effect of IONM on RLN injury are still controversial. The application of IONM could reduce the RLN injury of thyroidectomy. By reviewing studies in this area it could be understand that IONM could reduce the incidence of total, transient and permanent RLN injury compared with conventional visual identification. IONM could help surgeons perform a better thyroidectomy. Surgeons should routinely identify recurrent laryngeal nerves during thyroid operations, and intraoperative nerve monitoring might be a useful adjunct to prevent injury to laryngeal nerves during thyroid operations.
Reference:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27584011
https://www.healthline.com/health/thyroid-gland-removal
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-26219-5
https://www.medscape.com/answers/1891109-100629/what-is-the-role-of-intraoperative-nerve-monitoring-in-thyroidectomy
