[Surgery for hyperthyroidism on 43 patients]

Treatment of hyperthyroidy uses surgery as well radioactive iodine and antithyroid agents.

The study analyses the modalities of hyperthyroidy surgery, describes its complications and the population undergoing surgical treatment.

It is a retrospective study on 43 patients with hyperthyroidy treated by thyroidectomy from January first 1998 until 31 January 2002.

The mean age is 48 years. The sex ratio showed a predominance of women (with 36 women and 7 men). The most frequent aetiology is Graves' disease and toxic multinodular goiter. Total thyroidectomy is applied to Graves' disease and toxic multinodular goiter while single toxic nodules are treated by loboisthmectomy. Surgery for hyperthyroidy have a low morbidity (1/43 haematoma, 0/43 hypoparathyoidy, 1/43 palsy of recurrent nerve).

In this conditions, the hyperthyroidy surgery is fast, effective and does not need a heavy follow-up. Surgery seems to be a good alternative to antithyroid agents, which are constraining and often ineffective in the long term, and to radioactive iodine who leads to a long follow-up because of induced hypothyroidy.