Reoperative surgery for thyroid disease.

Background And Aims: Reoperative surgery for thyroid disease is rare. However, it is sometimes indicated for nodular recurrence after partial surgery for initially benign thyroid disease or for a completion total thyroidectomy when a final diagnosis of well-differentiated thyroid cancer (WDTC) is confirmed on a permanent section of a partially removed thyroid gland. This surgery can expose the patient to postoperative complications such as recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) palsy or hypoparathyroidism.

Extensive thyroidectomy in Graves' disease.

Background: The best surgical treatment for hyperthyroidism caused by Graves' disease remains a controversial subject.

Methods: Seven hundred fourteen consecutive patients underwent total or near-total thyroidectomy for Graves' disease in a 13-year period. In a first analysis, postoperative rates of suffocating hematoma, wound infection, recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) palsy, hypoparathyroidism, and persistence or recurrence of hyperthyroidism, were studied and compared with the same parameters in 4,426 patients who underwent bilateral thyroid gland resection for other conditions.