Thyroid surgery in children and teenagers.
From 1961 to 1976 62 patients under age 20 underwent thyroidectomy for various thyroid disorders. Twenty-four thyroid lobectomies and eight subtotal or near-total thyroidectomies were performed for benign nodular goiter. Eight near-total thyroidectomies and two thyroid lobectomies were performed for carcinoma. Two patients also had a radical neck dissection. Twenty patients with hyperthyroidism underwent near-total thyroidectomy. Postoperative complications occurred in six patients-all with hyperthyroidism. Operative mortality was zero. Two indications for thyroidectomy in our series were nodular goiter (to rule out carcinoma), and hyperthyroidism (that was not well-controlled medically or where surgery was chosen as primary therapy). In patients with nodular goiters that required surgery, a minimal complication rate occurred. By contrast, surgery for hyperthyroidism was associated with a high postoperative complication rate, six of 20 patients or 30%, which must be anticipated by the surgeon.
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000601:surgery*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006044:Goiter, Nodular / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D006980:Hyperthyroidism / Q000601:surgery*; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D013965:Thyroidectomy