Improved Scar Reducing Surgery Techniques for Thyroid Cancer Patients
Physicians are providing thyroid cancer patients with new options for less invasive procedures that can reduce or eliminate the scar left behind after thyroid cancer surgery.
Traditional thyroid cancer treatments involve excising the entire thyroid gland, or sections of it, to eliminate the cancer and minimize the risk of tumor recurrence. This typically requires a three to five inch incision at the base of the neck to remove the butterfly-shaped thyroid that spans across both sides of the lower throat just below the “adam’s apple.”
Using techniques generally applied for facial cosmetic surgery or new high-tech robotic instruments that minimize trauma to surgical sites are two ways that surgeons can now treat thyroid cancer with minimal to no scarring.
Most patients with thyroid cancer are concerned with the cosmetic end result, especially women who are more than three to four times more likely to get thyroid cancer than men, explains Dr. David Terris from the Medical College of Georgia Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.
