In a robotic thyroidectomy, the surgeon can remove all or part of the thyroid through an axillary incision via the armpit or transorally via the mouth. You may resume most of your normal activities the day after surgery.
However, wait for at least 10 days, or until your doctor gives you permission, to engage in strenuous activities such as high-impact exercise. Your throat will probably feel sore for several days. You may be able to take an over-the-counter pain medication such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen to relieve the soreness. After your surgery, you may develop hypothyroidism. If this occurs, your doctor will prescribe some form of levothyroxine to help bring your hormone levels into balance.
It may take several adjustments and blood tests to find the best dosage for you. As with every major surgery, thyroid surgery carries the risk of an adverse reaction to general anesthetic.
Other risks include heavy bleeding and infection. Supplements can treat low levels of calcium hypocalcemia. Treatment should start as soon as possible. Notify your doctor if you feel nervous or jittery or if your muscles start twitching. These are signs of low calcium. Of all patients having a thyroidectomy, only a minority will develop hypocalcemia. Of those who develop hypocalcemia, approximately 75 percent will recover in 1 year. Your thyroid gland is responsible for growth and metabolism in your body.
Such cancers can be a challenge to remove. Oftentimes, we may team up with surgeons from different specialties to address the complexities of invasive thyroid cancers.
For example, if the disease has spread to the lymph nodes in the upper chest, we may collaborate with our highly skilled thoracic surgeons to ensure that we perform the most complete tumor removal possible. Other patients may benefit from reconstructive surgery. We work with our plastic surgeons to achieve a positive cosmetic outcome for you. Recovery from thyroid surgery is different for everyone. Most people notice their energy gradually return in the weeks after surgery.
Some people find that their energy level varies for a month or two. Normal hormone levels are important for your health, including your metabolism, and for preventing certain thyroid cancers from coming back. Your thyroid may be able to function normally after a thyroid lobectomy. This is particularly true for people whose level of thyroid hormone is low before the lobectomy procedure.
Your MSK thyroid surgeon works closely with your endocrinologist to provide the careful monitoring necessary to achieve hormone balance after thyroid surgery. Radioactive iodine RAI treatment is used to destroy abnormal thyroid tissue that might have been left behind or missed during surgery.
RAI therapy is most commonly recommended after a thyroidectomy for people with follicular thyroid cancer or advanced papillary thyroid cancer. Our researchers helped develop the standards used around the world for giving this treatment to patients safely and effectively. Learn more about our radioactive iodine expertise. Postoperative radiation therapy is typically recommended for patients with:.
We treat your thyroid cancer using two techniques: intensity-modulated radiation therapy IMRT or proton therapy. These approaches allow us to deliver more-precise doses of radiation than conventional approaches while keeping healthy tissue safe. Memorial Sloan Kettering is one of a limited number of centers nationwide offering proton therapy. If all 4 glands are injured or removed during the operation, the blood calcium levels can become lower than normal called hypocalcemia.
Hypocalcemia can cause symptoms such as numbness and tingling especially around the lips and in the hands and feet as well as cramping and even "locking" of the hands and feet. It is important to note that numbness and tingling may be caused by something other than a parathyroid problem. If a patient has symptoms caused by low blood calcium, the surgeon may prescribe extra calcium and a vitamin D supplement.
Other risks of thyroid surgery include wound infections and seromas. A seroma is a collection of fluid under the incision. Seromas happen rarely and usually disappear within a few weeks.
If the seroma is large, the surgeon may drain it with a small needle. The risk of having any of these complications depends on the experience of the surgeon. Although the risk of these complications cannot be eliminated entirely, they can be minimized in the hands of an experienced thyroid surgeon. Prior to the operation, patients will need certain pre-operative testing to make sure that they are healthy enough and properly prepared for an operation.
The typical recommendations for pre-operative testing include:. In addition, patients may require additional tests in certain situations to help plan the operation. It is not common to need these additional tests, but they may include:. Fiberoptic laryngoscopy: This test allows the surgeon to look at how well the vocal cords are moving by passing a thin flexible camera through the nose into the airway.
This test is used in patients with hoarseness, a previous neck operation, or cases of advanced cancer. CAT scan of the chest: This test allows the surgeon to evaluate if the thyroid disease is growing down into the chest and if so, how it is affecting the structures in the chest.
The CAT scan will also allow the surgeon to see if the trachea is being moved to one side or the other and if it is being narrowed by the thyroid. This test is used in patients with large goiters, substernal goiters, and cases of advanced cancer. Patients with other significant medical issues may be asked to visit with their medical team to obtain a letter of medical clearance.
The medical clearance allows the patient's medical team the opportunity to optimize the patient's health prior to an operation and allow the specialists to make recommendations for how best to care for the patient's other medical issues during the peri-operative period. In general, patients should be eating, drinking, walking around, and doing their normal activities the night of the operation.
However, patients will be asked to do no heavy lifting, swimming, or soaking in a bathtub for 1 week after the operation. Patients should call their surgeon's office to make a follow up appointment 3 weeks after surgery. Most patients will feel like they have a sore throat for the first few days after the operation, especially when swallowing.
Some people experience a dull ache, while others feel a sharp pain. It produces hormones that control every aspect of your metabolism, from your heart rate to how quickly you burn calories. Thyroidectomy is used to treat thyroid disorders, such as cancer, noncancerous enlargement of the thyroid goiter and overactive thyroid hyperthyroidism.
How much of your thyroid gland is removed during thyroidectomy depends on the reason for surgery. If you need only part of your thyroid removed partial thyroidectomy , your thyroid may work normally after surgery. If your entire thyroid is removed total thyroidectomy , you need daily treatment with thyroid hormone to replace your thyroid's natural function. Thyroidectomy is generally a safe procedure. But as with any surgery, thyroidectomy carries a risk of complications.
If you have hyperthyroidism, your doctor may prescribe medication — such as an iodine and potassium solution — to control your thyroid function and lower the bleeding risk after surgery. You may need to avoid eating and drinking for a certain period of time before surgery, as well, to avoid anesthesia complications. Your doctor will provide specific instructions. Before your scheduled surgery, ask a friend or loved one to help you get home after the procedure.
Be sure to leave jewelry and valuables at home. Surgeons typically perform thyroidectomy during general anesthesia, so you won't be conscious during the procedure. The anesthesiologist or anesthetist gives you an anesthetic medication as a gas — to breathe through a mask — or injects a liquid medication into a vein. A breathing tube will then be placed in your trachea to assist breathing throughout the procedure. The surgical team places several monitors on your body to help make sure that your heart rate, blood pressure and blood oxygen remain at safe levels throughout the procedure.
These monitors include a blood pressure cuff on your arm and heart-monitor leads attached to your chest. Once you're unconscious, the surgeon makes a cut incision low in the center of your neck.
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