What You Are Likely to Experience

What You Are Likely to Experience

In most cases, surgery of the thyroid is not highly complicated, and usually takes no more than two hours.

Removal of half of the thyroid takes 45 minutes to an hour, so if the entire gland is being removed, the surgery will last about an hour and a half.

Check with your surgeon about medications you are taking, and what you should/shouldn't take in the days prior to surgery.

You will most likely be asked to check into the hospital the morning of your surgery. Typically, your surgeon will ask that you refrain from eating or drinking after midnight the night before surgery.

Outpatient or Hospital Admission?

Depending on the condition of the patient, an overnight or two-night hospital stay may be planned. Outpatient thyroid surgery is becoming increasingly popular, however, and research shows that outpatient thyroid surgery is safe, effective -- and less expensive -- for most patients, and may be preferable to traditional inpatient hospital stays.

General or Local Anesthesia?

Thyroid surgery is more commonly performed with general anesthesia. Some surgeons are now using local anesthesia, plus a sedative, however, to perform thyroid surgery.

The benefits of local anesthesia are that it is associated with a shorter hospital stay, shorter actual surgery time, and less vomiting and nausea after surgery.

If you choose local anesthesia, your doctor will typically give you numbing medication for the thyroid area, plus a mild sedative to help you stay calm. You will, however, be awake during the surgery, and able to interact with your surgeon.

Not many surgeons are trained to do thyroid surgery under local anesthesia. So if you want to proceed with this option, be sure your surgeon has done a number of thyroid surgeries with local anesthesia. (Some experts suggest you look for a surgeon who has performed this procedure at least 50 times.)