Type of Surgery
Information
Last updated: 02/17/2009
A thyroidectomy begins with general anesthesia administered by an anesthesiologist. The anesthesiologist injects drugs into the patient's veins and then places an airway tube in the windpipe to ventilate (provide air for) the person during the operation....
After the patient has been anesthetized, the surgeon makes an incision in the front of the neck at the level where a tight-fitting necklace would rest. The surgeon locates and takes care not to injure the parathyroid glands and the recurrent laryngeal nerves, while freeing the thyroid gland from these surrounding structures. The next step is clamping off the blood supply to the portion of the thyroid gland that is to be removed. Next, the surgeon removes all or part of the gland. If cancer has been diagnosed, all or most of the gland is removed. If other diseases or nodules are present, the surgeon may remove only part of the gland. The total amount of glandular tissue removed depends on the condition being treated. The surgeon may place a drain, which is a soft plastic tube that allows tissue fluids to flow out of an area, before closing the incision. The incision is closed with either sutures (stitches) or metal clips. A dressing is placed over the incision and the drain, if one has been placed.
People generally stay in the hospital one to four days after a thyroidectomy.
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Other Information
A thyroidectomy involves the surgical removal of all or part of the thyroid gland. Surgeons often perform a thyroidectomy when a patient has thyroid cancer or some other condition of the thyroid gland (such as hyperthyroidism). Other indications for surgery include cosmetic (very enlarged thyroid), or symptomatic obstruction (causing difficulties in swallowing or breathing). One of the complications of "thyroidectomy" is voice change and patients are strongly advised to only be operated on by surgeons who protect the voice by using electronic nerve monitoring.
Other Information
Mastoidectomy is done to make the ear safe, since infection in the skull may be dangerous and can cause infection in and around the brain. With this procedure we hope to make the ear dry and possibly improve the hearing.
-P H Jones
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