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Dr. Terris explains how the thyroidectomy has changed in the last ten years.
Dr. David Terris:
There’s been a dramatic evolution in how a thyroidectomy is done. I would say that thyroidectomy, the way I do it today, bears very little resemblance to how I was trained to do it 10 or 15 years ago, and it’s any number of differences, partially technologically driven. So there’s a very useful device now for accomplishing a thyroidectomy called a harmonic device that makes for a relatively bloodless operation, less dissection involved.
We often use nerve monitoring to minimize the chances of injury, very important recurrent laryngeal nerve that travels underneath the thyroid gland to the voice box, and then a number of other ways in which we reduced the dissection involved in accomplishing a thyroidectomy. I rarely use a drain anymore, often send patients home. So it’s really a much different operation than it used to be.
About Dr. David Terris, M.D.:
Dr. David J. Terris is a Professor, Department Chair and Porubsky Distinguished Chair in the Otolaryngology Department at the Medical College of Georgia. He graduated with his B.A. from Cornell University and his medical doctorate from Duke University Medical School.
Visit Dr. Terris at the Medical College of Georgia