Comparison of the results of total thyroidectomy and Dunhill operation in surgical treatment of multinodular goiter

Multi-nodular goiter (MNG) is one of the commonest thyroid gland disease. Surgery is an important treatment option in the presence of indications. There are several alternative procedures for thyroid gland operation such as subtotal thyroidectomy (STT), near-total thyroidectomy (NTT), hemi-thyroidectomy plus subtotal resection (Dunhill procedure), and total thyroidectomy (TT), but the surgical procedure of choice is still under discussion. In this study, 173 consecutive patients with multi-nodular goiter underwent thyroid operation in the department of surgery of Pursina Hospital in Rasht-Iran, using two different methods: Dunhill operation and total thyroidectomy. Outcome assessment was performed 4 days after surgery, 2 weeks, 1, 2, 10, and 20 month after surgery. Preoperative assessment, seroma, recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy, hypocalcaemia rates, and rates of other postoperative complications, final pathology, and recurrence were compared in two methods. Due to the high incidence of malignancy in this survey, TT can be the method of choice for MNG surgery. Also, TT will be more beneficial in the surgical treatment of benign thyroid disorders, especially those which are bilateral or extended to substernal space or which presented with compression symptoms.