Thyroid surgery
One of the main risks during thyroidectomy is injury to the recurrent
laryngeal nerve (RLN) which leads to a change in the voice. Paul uses
a nerve monitor in all thyroidectomy operations. This helps to identify
the RLN in difficult cases (eg. revision or cancer) and protect it
during the operation. At the end of the operation a printout is produced
to document the nerves’ function.
The operation is carried out with an instrument called the “Harmonic
Scalpel” TM. This helps to cut and coagulate tissue, thereby
reducing the length of the operation and reducing blood loss. This
has the knock-on effect of avoiding the use of surgical drains at the
end of the operation, which improves patient comfort and reduces length
of hospital stay.
As a member of the British Association of Endocrine and Thyroid Surgeons (BAETS), Paul enters all his Thyroidectomy outcome data onto the BAETS website www.baets.org.uk .
- Numbers : approx. 40-50 per year
- Length of Stay : 1 day (lobectomy) , 1.3 days (total thyroidectomy)
- Return to theatre (bleeding) : 1%
- Wound infection 0%
- Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve weakness 0.5%
- Hypocalcaemia (after total thyroidectomy) 8%