After thyroid surgery in the neck, scarring is a definite possibility. Difficult or not to see may be related to these factors as follows.
1. Tumor-related factors: such as the size of the mass, whether there are lateral cervical lymph node metastases, the extent of tumor invasion of soft tissues, etc. These sometimes determine the size of the neck incision. For localized thyroid mass lobectomy, the surgical incision may be around 3-5CM; if there is lymph node metastasis in the neck that requires neck dissection, the incision may be relatively longer and larger. If you try to use the natural skin line of the neck to make the incision, the postoperative scar will be as light as possible.
2. Individual related factors: For example, different individuals have different skin and muscle tissues in the neck, and the proliferation reaction of scar tissue may be light or heavy. There may also be differences in scar growth in different parts of the body surface. In addition, factors such as individual’s age, skin tissue laxity, thickness of subcutaneous fat, as well as recent post-operative alcohol consumption, spicy and stimulating diet, allergic food, inflammatory infection, etc. may also affect the wound healing status.
3, surgery-related factors: such as the design of the incision, the method and technique of suturing, the materials used for suturing; the experience of the surgeon, wound bleeding and the handling of certain details; the presence of incisions for multiple surgeries or co-infections, etc.
From the surgical point of view, the combination of these three factors will minimize the scarring of the wound as much as possible.
The incision is designed according to the size and location of the thyroid tumor. It is usually close to the root of the neck.
Thyroid cancer against the middle of the gland with an incision of 3 cm cm, 3 weeks postoperatively.
For thyroid cancer, the incision is 4 cm and 2 weeks postoperatively.
When the surgery requires lymph node clearance in the neck, the incision is designed along the natural course of the skin line in the lower part of the neck, or along the double skin line if the neck is longer, taking into account the aesthetics and complete tumor clearance.
Rational design of surgical incision, use of 4~5 0 tissue reactions with small sutures, careful suture operation, and use of intradermal cosmetic sutures. Some of the suture materials can be withdrawn or absorbed by themselves. In most affected patients, after one or two years, the neck wound scar is very light and sometimes not even visible:.
Even after neck debridement, or even bilateral neck debridement, it is possible to obtain a light scar and a good appearance:.
Different hospitals, or different surgeons or have different incision design habits. Such incisions are no longer used as much as possible.
Double neck clearance for thyroid cancer with a large apron incision. The same incision, different individuals, some have lighter scarring, some have very obvious scarring. If the incision is not properly designed, the scar may become more visible after co-infection, affecting both appearance and function.
The same patient with bilateral cervical lymph node metastases from thyroid cancer. Comparison of the appearance of the incision after two neck debulking procedures in different hospitals.
Everyone has a love for beauty! It is the normal expectation of every normal person to preserve the functional appearance as much as possible while curing the disease. The size of the neck scar, of course, is related to various factors, and a well-informed communication with the surgeon before surgery may provide friends with fuller confidence to gain victory over the disease.