Indications, risks, and acceptance of total thyroidectomy for multinodularbenign goiter

Selective morphology- and function-adapted resection is generally regarded as the surgical treatment of choice for benign goiter causing iodine defici ency. This procedure aims to reduce the need for patients to undergo reoper ations for recurrence by completely removing all nodules. However, to achie ve this sometimes requires a total thyroidectomy, the option of which is of ten rejected because of a presumed higher rate of complications. In this st udy, 324 patients who underwent total thyroidectomy were evaluated retrospe ctively. The patients were interviewed about their postoperative course and their acceptance of the procedure performed. The complications were compar ed with those associated with subtotal resection or hemithyroidectomies per formed in our collective experience. The rate of complications associated w ith total thyroidectomy, namely, recurrent nerve palsy in 0.9%, hypocalcemi a in 0.9%, wound infection in 0.9%, and secondary hemorrhage in 0.6%, did n ot differ significantly from that associated with subtotal resections/hemit hyroidectomies. Moreover, 88.3% of the patients who underwent total thyroid ectomy were satisfied with the results of surgery. These findings indicate that total thyroidectomy is an acceptable surgical alternative for benign m ultinodular goiters.