Thyroid Surgery
Thyroid surgery can be very important in the treatment of thyroid disease and is generally easy to tolerate since post thyroid surgery recovery is relatively straightforward. Thyroid removal surgery is commonly performed in cases of goiters and other thyroid issues that cause the gland to enlarge and expand beyond its normal size. It can grow very big in people who do not have iodine as the body does its best to try to compensate for the lack of this essential nutrient in the diet. Therefore the organ gets very big under stimulation from the brain as the body is desperate for iodine and regulation that the thyroid provides to all of the cells of the entire body.
Other times, the surgery on the thyroid is just to remove a nodule. Thyroid nodule surgery is one of the more simple operations from the perspective of the approach, but difficult to master since there are a lot of key structures in the area of the thyroid. One of these structures that can be affect by thyroid removal surgery is the recurrent laryngeal nerve. This nerve comes up from the thorax and innervates the voice box. The nerve is very close to the thyroid and surgeons spend a lot of time isolating the nerve to be sure that they do not cut it in an attempt to get the thyroid out. If the nerve is damaged, there is a possibility of the person to have their voice box become paralyzed and then the person is very hoarse. This is one of the most dreaded complications of thyroid surgery.
The other structures that are in the vicinity of the thyroid are the large blood vessels of the neck, the carotid artery and the jugular veins. These big blood vessels are relatively easy to isolate and avoid, but they can be easily damaged if the surgery has problems, is in a rush, or otherwise does not perform the operation well. Another important structure is the vagal nerve. This nerves runs with the blood vessels and is much smaller in comparison to the vessels. This should also be avoided as it regulates a lot of the body functions in the thorax and abdomen.
Another bug reason for thyroid surgery is the removal and eradication of possible cancers. Thyroid cancer can happen and is relatively common. There are great radiation treatments for thyroid cancers but sometimes it is necessary to go under the knife to completely eliminate the risk of having the cancer spread to other parts of the body. When this happens, the patient tends to have poor prognosis as thyroid cancer can be very difficult to treat once it has started to metastasize to other organs. Sometimes the cancer operation can be very similar to thyroid nodule surgery and only involve the elimination of a hot nodule or small tumor. But other times the entire organ needs to be removed. The duration and severity of the recovery is highly variable. Post thyroid surgery recovery can be quick in the case of small operations and lengthy if the surgery is a complex one.