The place of surgery in nodular thyroid disease

The case records of 419 patients undergoing thyroidectomy for nodular goitre are examined in the light of the final pathology and the incidence of carcinoma. In patients presenting with a clinically single nodule, the incidence of carcinoma was 10%; in multinodular goitres this incidence was 4%. A policy for the surgical treatment of nodular goitre is proposed.