Thyroid Surgery

Abstract

In a 5-year period we treated 233 patients referred to us with a thyroid swelling. Among them, 39 patients (17%) had a malignant tumor. Seventy-eight percent of the patients were women. The preoperative examination procedure is discussed. Preoperatively, recurrent nerve palsy was found in 2.6% of patients with benign tumors and in 28% of patients with malignant tumors. The histologic features of the benign and the malignant tumors are described. The operative procedure in the benign group consisted of enucleation, resection, or lobectomy. In the patients with malignant tumors a radical operation was performed, consisting of lobectomy (unilateral or bilateral) when possible, eventually combined with radical neck dissection. The operative complications are discussed.