What is the most common reason behind a thyroid surgery?
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While thyroid can be controlled with medicine, eliminating tumours or nodules on the thyroid gland is the major aim of the surgery. Most of these nodules are benign, few can turn cancerous. Furthermore, the benign nodules can obstruct the throat if they become too big. Problems also arise if the thyroid gland starts overproducing hormones, a condition called hyperthyroidism. Hyperthyroidism is the result of a disorder known as the Graves disorder. Here the body cannot correctly identify the thyroid gland and mistake it for a foreign object. Be careful about single thyroid nodule, more chances of malignancy.
How many days does it take to recover from the procedure?
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It takes about 7-10 days to considerably recover from the procedure. To engage in strenuous activities, the doctor might want to review the patient after a couple of weeks. The throat feels sore for days at a stretch. Over the counter medicine such as acetaminophen and ibuprofen can be consumed to deal with the soreness. In case over-the-counter medicine doesn t work, the surgeon prescribes a more powerful painkiller to deal with the situation
How long does it take for the procedure to be completed?
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This procedure takes place under full anaesthesia. Since the thyroid gland is surrounded with glands and nerves, the procedure takes minute precision to progress. The overall duration of the surgery lasts around 2-3 hours. A patient is kept in the recovery room for 24-48 hours for observation before being shifted to the general ward.
One common risk of a thyroid surgery is the change of voice
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If the surgeon who is performing the procedure is not experienced, the nerves that control the voice often gets damaged resulting in hoarseness of voice. The chances of this happening are more frequent if the surgeon is performing a total thyroidectomy instead of a lobectomy. There are chances of a total voice loss as well. It is important to discuss the side effects and the possible implications of the procedure with the surgeon before getting into the operating table. Chances of hoarseness of voice is common after this surgery, even in good surgical hands. This is a very skilled surgery, otherwise associated with many complications.
The chance of a hypoparathyroidism is more in case of a lobectomy
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The likelihood of a hypoparathyroidism occurring is certainly more in the case of a lobectomy than a subtotal thyroidectomy. Surgeons might at times mistakenly remove the parathyroid gland while doing the procedure resulting into a condition called, hypoparathyroidism. While this is a safe surgery, the risks of hypoparathyroidism cannot be ruled out. A patient is treated with radioactive iodine after the surgery if a tumour is cancerous in nature. It ensures that all the cancer cells disappear.
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