+44 151 808 1136- Otolaryngology Online Journal (2015) Volume 5, Issue 3
Anatomy of thyroid gland Surgeon?s perspective
Thyroid surgery can give rise to complications if performed without adequate knowledge of anat-omy. With adequate knowledge of its anatomy, its variations and optimal operative technique complications can be reduced. Structures that should be protected at all costs include the re-current laryngeal nerves, external branches of superior laryngeal nerves and parathyroid glands. Safe surgery involves meticulous hemo-stasis, and performing the dissection in a meticu-lous and step wise pattern. Thyroid gland if pulled medially will help in lateral dissection, se-curing middle thyroid vein (which may cause troublesome bleed in some patients as it is a branch from internal jugular vein). This also protects the recurrent laryngeal nerve from damage. Capsular dissection helps in pro-tecting the recurrent laryngeal nerve and also protects the blood supply of parathyroid glands.
Author(s): Balasubramanian Thiagarajan