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Thyroid Surgery


 

The thyroid gland produces hormones that are used by the body to regulate an individual’s metabolism. In some patients, their thyroid problem may require a partial or full removal of their thyroid gland. Hyperthyroidism will normally respond to medications but an ENT doctor may use radioactive iodine or throat surgery for pediatric and adult patients. When an enlarged thyroid gland (goiter) causes problems breathing or swallowing, an ENT doctor may perform throat surgery. Thyroid cancer or cancerous thyroid nodules typically require throat surgery as a corrective procedure.

Can the thyroid gland be completely removed?

Patients most commonly are referred to a ENT doctor for thyroid problems because they have a lump in their neck or a nodule found on a thyroid ultrasound. A partial or complete removal of the thyroid gland is a very common ENT surgery that is performed to correct a variety of thyroid gland abnormalities. However, most thyroid conditions respond to medications.

 

Your ENT doctor will often work closely with an endocrinologist to determine the underlying cause and severity of your particular problem. Among the most common neck surgeries are a needle-aspiration biopsy of swollen thyroid nodules, total or partial removal of a goiter, and surgical elimination of the parathyroid gland. Although many patients only think of an ENT doctor as a surgeon, most ENT problems of the head and neck can be resolved using medications or other medical intervention.

Parathyroid Disease & Surgery

Patients often simply do not feel well, have loss of energy, feel old, cannot concentrate, have loss of sex drive, often have kidney stones, are often depressed, are irritable, and may have heart palpitations, thinning hair, hurting bones, acid reflux, or recurrent headaches. Blood tests can reveal an abnormally high calcium level. Hypo-parathyroid disease is rare and almost always caused by surgery to remove the thyroid or parathyroid glands. The symptoms are usually numbness, tingling, cramps, and irregular heartbeat. Patients are most commonly referred to the ENT doctor for parathyroid problems because of a lab test that shows abnormal blood calcium and abnormal blood parathyroid hormone level.

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