Procedures of Thyroid Surgery

The thyroid gland is located toward the front of the neck and is responsible for regulating the body's hormones and metabolism. When the thyroid has difficulty performing these functions, it can result in either hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism. Surgery may be required to restore balance.

Thyroidectomy

In this surgical procedure the entire thyroid gland is removed. This is usually done when the thyroid is found to be cancerous and the cancer has become aggressive. An incision is made near at the neck where it meets the collarbone. The procedure takes several hours and has a 2 to 3 week recovery period. The downside to having a total thyroidectomy is that this result in having hypothyroidism. This can be controlled with medication but the patient will need to take it for the rest of their lives.

Partial thyroidectomy

This procedure involves removing half of the thyroid. If cancer is found early, is not aggressive and is only on one side of the thyroid, then it is only necessary to remove that part of the thyroid. The surgery time for a partial thyroidectomy is less than an hour.  The risk associated with this surgery is developing hypothyroidism and hormone therapy may be prescribed by the doctor.

Lumpectomy

A lumpectomy is also referred to as a biopsy. This is when only a small part of the thyroid is removed with surrounding tissue usually for testing. This is a fairly simple procedure and can be performed in a doctor's office with anesthesia. A small needle is inserted in the neck and used to get the sample. If the results of the lumpectomy are positive for cancer then a partial or total thyroidectomy may need to be performed on the patient.