Thyroid Surgery
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Contact usSuspicious nodules/Cancer
Thyroid nodules are extremely common. They can by feeling a lump in the neck or sometimes incidentally when having a scan for something else. The chance of a thyroid lump being cancerous is small but should be investigated.
Thyroid nodules should undergo an ultrasound scan by a specialist radiologist to check their size and shape. If deemed suitably large or show some atypical features then a needle biopsy is offered.
This involves a small needle (smaller than a blood test needle) to go into the nodule to check the cells. Within a few days a result is available as to what the nodule is and if anything needs to be done for this.
Overactive thyroid/Graves disease
Sometimes your thyroid can become overactive and produces too much thyroid hormone into your blood stream. This can make you unwell and can be dangerous.
Treatment depends on why your thyroid is overactive but can include:
Medication – to control the thyroid.
Radioactive iodine – to try and stun and stop the thyroid working with iodine medication.
Surgery – to remove some or all of your thyroid if it is diseased.
Your endocrinologist or surgeon can discuss these options with you to help decide which is the best one for you as it can depend on many factors.
Multinodular/Retrosternal thyroid
Occasionally the thyroid can grow quite large and starts to grow behind the breast bone. It can also start to press on the windpipe (trachea) or the gullet (oesophagus) and cause problems with breathing or swallowing.
In these scenarios it is quite difficult to reduce the size of the thyroid with anything other than surgery if you are symptomatic. Surgery is usually performed through a scar in the neck with the thyroid behind the chest being carefully removed. Very rarely we need to split the breastbone – but this is exceptionally rare.
Ultrasound of the neck
All patients will have a surgeon performed ultrasound just before their surgery to further help plan operation and the extent of the thyroid.