Surgical Treatment of Hyperthyroidism*

SUBTOTAL thyroidectomy has been conclusively demonstrated to be effective in the treatment of hyperthyroidism, both for the adenomatous or nodular type and for the primary or diffuse toxic type. In experienced hands, the operation can be performed with an operative mortality of 1 per cent or less and with few complications. Furthermore, satisfactory results are achieved in 90 to 95 per cent. The operation, as carried out today, has reached a high state of perfection but such has not always been the case. Indeed, the high incidence of complications which has been reported in earlier series, including an appreciable number of recurrences of the disease, has frequently been quoted in the literature as reason to employ an operation only as a last resort after failure to control symptoms by so-called conservative measures. That such a situation should not exist today will be pointed out in this presentation, which will review experiences at the Lahey Clinic in the surgical treatment of 1,000 consecutive cases.