Complications of thyroid surgery

This article discusses complications of thyroid surgery which cause persistent morbidity pre- and postoperatively. The factors that promote these complications depend on the experience of the practitioner the type of procedure the lesional character of the pathology being aware that for thyroid cancers the tumor volume the invasive nature and the existence of adenopathy have a very high influence on the occurrence of complications. Risks of preoperative morbidity are determined by factors related to hemorrhages and to tracheo-esophageal fistulas; pleural breaches with penumothorax are observed very rarely. Postoperative complications are dependent on the causal condition the extent of surgical exeresis and the performance of or refrain from lumpectomy. This type of risk includes complications jeopardizing the vital prognosis notably recurring paralyses from those of the superior laryngeal nerve and hypoparathyroidism. Other complications have been reported but are rare and exceptional these are postoperative infection and quadriplegia. The authors mention actions to take in order to reduce these complications to a minimum and state that any subject operated on for the thyroid should be rigorous monitored for immediate complications to set forth a vital prognosis.