Surgical treatment of patients with autoimmune thyroiditis

The results of surgical treatment of 207(43,0%) of 481 patients examined and treated in the clinic for the period from 2008 to 2020 were analyzed. The group consisted of 438 (91,1%) women and 43 (8,9%) men 27 to 73 years old. Patients with hypertrophic autoimmune thyroiditis were mainly operated on. The choice of this treatment tactic was determined by the complications of this form of the disease, characterized by growth and enlargement of the thyroid gland, and formation of a nodular or multi-nodular goiter; or, alternatively, by a suspicion of a thyroid cancer. Long-term observation and conservative treatment by endocrinologists did not produce positive results. The analysis was carried out in two groups of patients. The first group consisted of 96 patients who were operated on using advanced CO2 laser-assisted surgical techniques, as a tool that facilitates surgical intervention. The second group was represented by 111 patients, who were operated on using traditional surgical techniques. The volume of surgery varied from Subtotal thyroid resection patients (69) to Extremely Subtotal thyroid resection (43) patients) and Thyroidectomy (95 patients). The proposed method of surgical treatment of patients with hypertrophic autoimmune thyroiditis using CO2 laser, as well as an advanced surgical technique that allows visual control over the localization zones of the upper laryngeal nerve and parathyroid glands, reduces the incidence of complications such as laryngeal paresis and hypoparathyroidism by about 1,5 times and reduces the patient’s hospital stay from 9,6 to 7,4 days (by 22%).