Ultrasonographic surveillance after surgery for euthyroid goitre in patients treated or not with thyroxine

Objective: To assess the efficacy of postoperative treatment with 1-thyroxine in patients operated on for euthyroid goitre after precise definition of extent of goitre disease preoperatively and postoperatively by ultrasound. Design: Retrospective study in a selected population. Setting: University hospital, Italy. Subjects: 53 patients operated on from 1984 to 1994 for euthyroid goitre. Interventions: 13 patients who had contralateral disease had lobectomy and contralateral enucleation and were treated postoperatively with suppressive doses of thyroxine. 22 patients underwent lobectomy with no medication. 18 patients underwent subtotal thyroidectomy followed by thyroxine in substitution doses. All patients had regular clinical assessments and ultrasound examination for evidence of recurrent disease. Results: There were no significant differences in the incidence of relapses between those who had lobectomy and those who had lobectomy plus enucleation (p > 0.05). Conclusions: We found no significant evidence that postoperative suppressive treatment had any effect on recurrence of goitre. Subtotal thyroidectomy gave the lowest recurrence rate (p = 0.14).