Removing a large goiter that had been haunting a woman for more than 5 years

Five years ago, Mrs. PTH discovered she had a goiter during a health check-up. Although she had visited many places for examination and treatment, it did not go away. On the contrary, the goiter grew larger and larger, causing pain in her neck, and she always felt a choking sensation when breathing and swallowing.

Image of the patient's mixed multinodular goiter before surgery. Photo: Kim Chung

Although she was very afraid of surgery, because she could not bear the discomfort caused by the tumor, she decided to choose Vinh International Hospital for examination and treatment.

After being examined, having an ultrasound and thyroid hormone quantification, she was diagnosed with mixed multinodular goiter and was scheduled for surgery to remove the tumor.

Doctors at Vinh International Hospital perform surgery on a patient. Photo: Kim Chung

The surgery was performed byBSCKII Luong Tu Hai Thanh - Professional Director of Vinh International HospitalWith extensive experience, with only a 3cm incision, the doctor and surgical team partially removed the thyroid gland, removing the entire 2-lobed goiter with the largest size up to 12.5cm in length and 6cm in width of each lobe, preserving maximum healthy thyroid tissue for the patient, avoiding the need to use hormone replacement drugs after surgery.

After 5 days of monitoring, the surgical wound was completely dry. The patient was very excited to be discharged from the hospital with recovered health and good eating and sleeping.

Removing multinodular goiter for PTH patient Photo: Kim Chung

Large multinodular goiter. Photo: Kim Chung

According to Dr. Luong Tu Hai Thanh, multinodular goiter is formed by the hyperplasia of thyroid follicular units. It often appears in iodine-deficient areas, including iodine-sufficient areas, although less so. The disease is common in the elderly and women more than men. Most patients have small, asymptomatic goiters that do not require treatment. However, a small percentage still have accompanying hyperthyroidism (toxic multinodular goiter) or cancer.

Partial thyroidectomy is the treatment of choice for patients with large goiters that cause compression. Medical treatment with high doses of radioactive iodine should only be used when the patient refuses surgery. Thyroxine has very little effect on reducing the size of the gland and should not be used.

The main measure for treating small multinodular goiters under 1cm should be annual monitoring by ultrasound. If the goiter is larger than 1cm, a fine needle biopsy should be combined for cell diagnosis. If benign, continue monitoring. If abnormal, surgery should be performed./.