Surgical Treatment of Thyroid Nodule in Hospital Universitario “General Calixto García”

Abstract

Introduction: Thyroid nodule is a clinical concept that can be defined as volume increase circumscribed in the thyroid gland and that can be single or multiple, as well as of various etiologies. A current controversy is the selection of the appropriate surgical treatment in patients with early-stage differentiated thyroid carcinoma. The importance of age, histologic tumor grade, disease extent and tumor size provide useful prognostic information. 

Objective: To characterize the surgical treatment of the thyroid nodule and its relationship with a prognostic index.

Methods: A descriptive, longitudinal, prospective study was carried out in the general surgery service of Hospital Universitario “General Calixto García” with patients treated and operated on for thyroid nodules, from November 2012 to December 2015. The sample consisted of 114 patients.

Results: Thyroid nodules prevailed in the female sex, and the age group of 40-49 years old had the highest number of patients. Benign lesions predominated, accounting for 60 %. The most frequently performed surgical intervention was Hemithyroidectomy –that is, conservative surgery–, although there was disagreement regarding the use of the surgical technique in patients with well-differentiated carcinoma and a low risk index.

Conclusions: Benign conditions maintain the highest frequency in the thyroid. There are contradictions at the moment of choosing a surgical technique for low-risk patients, for whom radicality is chosen, in which case there is a greater number of complications.

Keywords: thyroid nodule; thyroidectomy; carcinoma.