TOTAL THYROIDECTOMY AS PRIMARY ELECTIVE PROCEDURE IN MULTINODULAR THYROID DISEASE
Abstract
Background: Multinodular goitre is one of the commonest thyroid diseases encountered in thepractice of surgery. The most common surgery being performed for multinodular goitre is subtotalthyroidectomy. Total thyroidectomy is designed to remove all of the thyroid tissue. The objectiveof this study was to evaluate total thyroidectomy as a primary elective procedure for treatment ofmultinodular thyroid disease. This descriptive study was carried out at Combined Military HospitalRawalpindi from June 2003 to September 2006. Methods: 88 patients of multinodular thyroiddisease were included. Patients having evidence of recurrent laryngeal nerve damage, recurrentgoitre, evidence of altered parathyroid functions or evidence of malignancy were excluded. Allpatients underwent total thyroidectomy by the same team of surgeons and the patients were closelyfollowed up for postoperative complications especially in terms of recurrent laryngeal nerve damageand hypocalcaemic tetany. Results: No major postoperative complication was noted. Only 1 patient(1.14%) developed unilateral recurrent laryngeal nerve damage and 2 patients (2.27%) developedtransient hypocalcaemia that recovered quickly. Conclusion: Total thyroidectomy as a primaryelective procedure in multinodular thyroid disease is a safe option and it removes the disease processcompletely, lowers local recurrence rates and avoids the substantial risks of reoperative surgery.Keywords: Multinodular goitre, Total thyroidectomy, Primary elective total thyroidectomy.References
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