A descriptive experience of total thyroidectomy as the initial operation for differentiated carcinoma of the thyroid

Sixty-five patients with differentiated carcinoma of the thyroid gland were registered with the tumor registry of Camp Lejeune Naval Hospital. There were no death attributed to thyroid carcinoma. A vigorous follow-up program was followed, and 11 recurrences were diagnosed and treated. Recurrences were considered treatment failures. The recurrence rate for total thyroidectomy patients was much lower than for any other operation. Many investigators, including those of two current surgery textbooks, have acknowledged that total thyroidectomy is superior for control of the disease but have been reluctant to recommend it because the complications are presumed to be too numerous. The results of this analysis rebut that presumption. The operating surgeons are not thyroid experts, yet their results were excellent. It is reasonable to assume that a trained general surgeon is capable of performing a total thyroidectomy without an unacceptable high incidence of postoperative complications.