Postoperative suppressive therapy for thyroid adenomas

Thyroid adenoma is a common disease, If partial thyroidectomy is performed, postoperative suppression therapy is often given to avoid nodule developme nt in the remaining thyroid. It is unclear whether this treatment is warran ted. Patients who underwent a partial thyroidectomy with a histologic diagn osis of follicular thyroid adenoma from January 1985 until February 1998 we re studied retrospectively. Patients were analyzed on the basis of postoper ative therapy, new thyroid nodule growth, and costs. Seventy-six patients w ere identified with a recurrence rate of 4 per cent (3/76), Sixty-one per c ent (46/76) were treated with postoperative thyroid suppression therapy, an d no difference in new nodule development was noted with at least 6 months of follow-up (P = 0.274), No patients required reoperation. A large cost sa ving was shown for patients who were not treated with levothyroxine, We con clude that postoperative thyroid suppression may not be routinely indicated . A prospective, randomized study would be necessary to answer this questio n conclusively.