Thyroid nodules are one of the more common thyroid disorders and most patients require surgery to cure them. Surgery for thyroid nodules is generally divided into pre-operative and intra-operative procedures.
Before surgery, the patient will undergo an ultrasound review of the thyroid nodule to check the size of the nodule and to initially characterize the nodule, as well as to check the function of the thyroid gland.
Intraoperatively, the patient needs to be placed in the flat position after general anesthesia, routinely disinfected, and a sterile towel laid out. An arcuate incision of about 4-5 centimeters is made in the neck along the dermatomal line, and the vastus cervicis muscle is separated to reveal the thyroid gland.
After determining the location of the nodule, the thyroid gland was freed from adhesion to the surrounding tissues. The principle of intraoperative management of thyroid nodules is local excision of the thyroid nodule. If benign, the thyroid nodule and part of the gland can be removed, preserving the normal gland.
If it is malignant, a major portion of the thyroid gland or a total thyroidectomy is required. For cases where there are enlarged lymph nodes around the thyroid gland and metastasis is highly suspected, prophylactic lymph node clearance of the area around the thyroid nodule is also required.
The exact procedure for a full thyroid nodule surgery needs to be determined by the surgeon based on the patient’s own condition and cannot be generalized.