Thyroid Surgery
What To Think About
If you have a total thyroidectomy, you will develop Reference hypothyroidism Opens New Window and need to take man-made (synthetic) thyroid hormone for the rest of your life. If you have a lobectomy or subtotal thyroidectomy, you may have hypothyroidism and you may need to take thyroid medicine for the rest of your life.
You will most likely be treated with radioactive iodine after surgery for thyroid cancer to make sure that all the thyroid tissue and cancer cells are gone.
You may have a lobectomy, with or without isthmectomy, if your doctor suspects that a nodule may be cancerous. If you do have cancer, a surgeon usually will do a completion thyroidectomy.
After surgery for hyperthyroidism, some people will have low calcium levels and may need to take calcium supplements.
Complete the surgery information form (PDF) 
(What is a Reference PDF Opens New Window document?) to help you prepare for this surgery.
| By: | Reference Healthwise Staff | Last Revised: March 28, 2011 |
| Medical Review: | Reference E. Gregory Thompson, MD - Internal Medicine
Reference Matthew I. Kim, MD - Endocrinology |
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