Should benign thyroid tumors be removed?

In recent years, the incidence of thyroid tumors has been relatively high, including both benign and malignant tumors. For benign thyroid tumors, surgical treatment is generally not required. Of course, if the tumor is relatively large, surgery is required to avoid compression of adjacent tissues and organs. The specific situation requires specific analysis. Let us learn about this aspect below.

Benign thyroid tumors must be treated in four situations

In addition to the thyroid nodules we often talk about, there is another type of benign thyroid tumor called thyroid adenoma. As the name suggests, an adenoma is a tumor composed of glands. Normal cells should be arranged neatly, but now they are piled up in a disorderly arrangement, forming an adenoma.

Nowadays, more and more people are suffering from thyroid nodules and adenomas, so much so that it has almost become a topic of conversation among us. So does this benign thyroid tumor need to be treated?

The chance of a benign thyroid nodule turning into a malignant thyroid tumor is very low, generally only 2%-7%. The average risk of adenoma being malignant is 10% in women and 20% in men (multiple thyroid nodules are more common, while single thyroid adenoma is more common). There are four situations that require treatment:

1. Some critical symptoms appear, such as the location of the tumor compressing the trachea and affecting your breathing.

2. Pain occurs at the site of the thyroid tumor.

3. The tumor is too large, causing the neck to bulge and affecting the appearance.

4. Contains these high-risk factors: family history of thyroid cancer, history of exposure to radiation in childhood, such as: multiple CT examinations of the neck, further examination, treatment or close follow-up over the age of 40.

Early detection of thyroid tumors is not difficult

Because thyroid tumors grow slowly, a thyroid B-ultrasound once a year can help detect thyroid tumors in a timely manner. In addition, you should have a blood test every year to check thyroid hormone and other indicators to pay attention to whether your thyroid function is normal.

Thyroid tumor removal surgery can leave no scars

People who have undergone thyroid tumor surgery do not like to spend the summer because this type of surgery will leave a scar on the neck after the operation. Many people do not want others to know that they have had a tumor, because having a tumor affects their health and their value as well. But is surgery really necessary?

The development of endoscopic technology has extended the surgeon's eyes, and the instruments have extended the surgeon's hands. Nowadays, for the sake of beauty and privacy protection, many people choose to undergo scarless surgery.

This surgery involves making three small incisions of about 7 mm on the areola, extending the instrument to the location of the thyroid tumor, and then performing an endoscopy to remove it. This can also better protect the nearby recurrent laryngeal nerve.

This type of surgery has certain indications and cannot be performed whenever you want. Benign tumors must be smaller than 6 centimeters, malignant tumors must be smaller than 3 centimeters, and must not invade surrounding important organs.