The main purpose of removing 3/5 of the thyroid gland and performing a central lymph node dissection is to minimize postoperative metastasis and recurrence.
Generally speaking, if during the thyroidectomy, the lymph nodes on the opposite side of the resected thyroid gland or the thyroid lymph nodes located at the trachea are found to be enlarged or may develop metastasis, it will be necessary to carry out a central lymph node dissection to prevent metastasis as well as recurrence of the lymph nodes in this area after the operation.
In addition, the central lymph nodes are often the first station of thyroid cancer metastasis, and there is a greater possibility of metastasis. Therefore, for some thyroid cancers with higher possibility of metastasis and recurrence, such as papillary carcinoma, the central lymph nodes will be cleared, which can block the metastatic pathway of the cancer cells and reduce the rate of postoperative recurrence.