The Thyroid Gland is located in the neck and consists of two lobes, right and left.
The thyroid gland makes thyroid hormone with helps regulate the body metabolism.
Thyroid surgery is performed for reasons such as symptomatic thyroid goiter nodules, recurrent thyroid cysts, Graves’ disease, and to rule out or treat thyroid cancer.The purpose of the surgeryis to remove part or the entirethyroid.
Usually, patients will be discharged home same day or in some cases, will stay in the hospital one night to recover.
Before surgery
Before surgery you will have a pre-op exam which can include laboratory work, chest x-ray, and EKG.
Stop taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs ten days before surgery. Do not eat or drink anything after midnight the night before surgery.
The day of surgery
Arrive at the hospital at least two hours before surgery. Your family will wait in the family waiting area during surgery and will be updated on your situation by the patient representative and operating room staff. Dr. Kandil will speak to your family after the surgery is complete.
What will happen in surgery?
- You will be given general anesthesia to put you to
- You will be positioned with special pillows under your neck to tilt your head back.
- An incision is made at the base of your neck is about 3-4 inch- es long.
- The surgeon will locate the thyroid gland and associated struc- tures and all remove all or part of the thyroid.
- The incision is stitched closed and is then covered with dry
dressing.
- The surgery lasts 1-2
Risks
- Bleeding or infection which almost never happens in our experience.
- Injury to nerves
- Injury to the laryngeal nerves in the neck control the vocal cords could affect your voice. ( Routine use of nerve monitoring will help us to decrease the risk to well below 1%)
- The parathyroid glands could be injured, which would cause a drop in calcium levels (risk is also less than 1%)
After surgery
- liquid diet for dinner
- lozenges and throat spray will be provided if you experience sore throat
- pain medicine will be provided
- During your post operative clinic visit drains may be removed before you are discharged
- you will be sitting in the bed in an upright position to decrease swelling
- you will be given blood tests
- regular food the following morning
- Most patients are discharged home on the same day as surgery, however, if admitted for 23 hour observation, you will have an IV to give you fluids until the next day.
The incision
After the dressing is removed, you will see the tapes that cover the incision. Keep these in place until your follow-up visit. You may shower and wash your hair the day after surgery, but try to keep the neck area as dry as possible. If you notice any redness or drainage from the incision, contact your surgeon. After stitches are removed, use scar cream or sunscreen (SPF) of 30 to improve the appearance of the scar, or keep the scar covered the whole year. The scar may be- come raised or red, but will fade into a less noticeable thin line.
How will I feel after surgery?
Some people may be tired and a bit sore for a few days. You may experience pain from your incision as well as from muscle soreness in your upper back and shoulders. Most patients don’t require any narcotics after surgery, whoever, if needed, a prescription for pain medication will be given to you. Throat lozenges may be used for sore throat.Calcium levels may drop after surgery if you have had a thyroidectomy. You may also experience numbing and tingling of your fingers or around your mouth. You will be given instructions for taking calcium replacement if needed. If you notice a sudden swelling in your neck along your incision, call your surgeon. The swelling may be a result of hematoma (bleeding) or a seroma (collection of body fluid).
