The main complications of thyroid surgery are: 1. Voice changes. There are two important nerves in the neck that are closely connected to the thyroid gland – the superior laryngeal nerve and the recurrent laryngeal nerve. Damage to the nerves can cause changes in tone and pitch. Some patients’ voices will return to normal after a few months to a year, while some patients’ voices do not return for a long time. Zhao Ning, Beijing Friendship Hospital General Surgery Department 2. hypocalcemia. 75% of people have 4 parathyroid glands, others have more or less than 4 parathyroid glands. The function of the parathyroid glands is to regulate blood calcium and maintain the body’s blood calcium balance. Because the thyroid and parathyroid glands grow in close proximity to each other, thyroidectomy often causes hypoparathyroidism, which can lead to hypocalcemia. Roughly one-third of patients with total thyroidectomy will develop hypocalcemia. Some patients may have no symptoms, and some may develop symptoms such as numbness in the hands and feet, twitching, or more severe symptoms 1 to 3 days after surgery. Patients can relieve symptoms by taking calcium tablets or calcium infusions. If the function of the parathyroid gland cannot be restored 6 months after surgery, it will not be easily restored and patients will need to take calcium for life. 3.Take thyroid hormone for life. Thyroid hormones are involved in important metabolic functions of human body. Patients with thyroid cancer have to take thyroid hormone regardless of the extent of resection. In addition to replacing the function of thyroid gland, more importantly, it can inhibit the recurrence of tumor. Doctors will give patients different doses according to different situations. 4.Late bleeding. As the thyroid gland is rich in blood flow, it is an easy surgical site for bleeding. With the improvement of surgical techniques, intraoperative bleeding has been greatly reduced, but delayed bleeding after surgery still cannot be completely avoided, so close observation is needed for 1-2 days after surgery, which is also the reason why it is not applicable to daytime surgery. 5. Respiratory distress and asphyxia. It is common in cases of severely impaired neurological function and acoustic edema, and is quite dangerous. Although uncommon, it is indeed the most dangerous complication after thyroid surgery. By correctly understanding the complications after thyroid surgery and treating them appropriately, the patient’s life after surgery will not be greatly affected.