[Surgical treatment of Graves' disease]

Surgery has a definite role in the management of patients with Graves' disease, although it may be followed by perioperative complications and postoperative thyroid dysfunction. Since alternative treatments such as antithyroid drugs or radioiodine are also available, the decision making in the management should be based on clear assessment of advantages and limitations of each strategy by both patients and physicians. As clinicians caring for patients, we have to make efforts to obtain valid and reliable evidence regarding clinical outcomes of the treatment options so that the information can be used for the decisions in daily medical practices where patients' values and preferences are also important determinants.