Hyperthyroidism

What is hyperthyroidism?

Thyroid gland is an essential gland, located at the front of your neck and has the shape of butterfly. It produces thyroid hormones which are necessary for all the cells in your body to work normally. When too much hormones is produces for the body’s need, it become a health problem called “Hyperthyroidism”.

What causes hyperthyroidism?

Several conditions can result in hyperthyroidism  and the most often one is Graves's disease - a type of autoimmune problem that causes the thyroid gland to produce too much thyroid hormone. Patients with Graves's thyroid disease are at increased risk for developing hyperthyroidism. Other cause of hyperthyroidism can be identified as below:

         -     a toxic nodular or multinodular goiter

         -     inflammation of the thyroid gland—called thyroiditis—

         -     too much iodine consumption

         -     taking medications contained iodine

What are the symptoms of hyperthyroidism?

Patients with Hyperthyroidism can develop several symptoms, usually begin slowly and quite similar to other health problems that often make patients misunderstand. Symptoms may include: Weight loss, Rapid heartbeat or irregular heartbeat, Nervousness, anxiety or irritability, Tremors (trembling of the hands and fingers), Changes in bowel patterns, An enlarged thyroid gland (called a goiter, Fatigue and Muscle weakness and Difficulty sleeping.

How to treat hyperthyroidism

The treatment usually begins with taking hormone pills to suppress the functioning of the thyroid gland and to prevent further growth of thyroid tissue. However, it always ends up with surgery to remove thyroid nodules that locate in one lobe or both lobes of the thyroid gland. The surgery is performed in order to prevent thyroid glands from being cancerous or continued growth until the patients are unable to eat or have difficulty breathing. In some cases, it is for the appearance of the patients themselves. Currently, there are many types of thyroid surgeries. Open surgery is one of them and it has been performed from the past until now. Transverse collar incision is made to cut the whole thyroid gland along with lymph node removal. Obviously, this open surgery leaves scars at the neck which some patients are not happy with their scars.

Now the technique of laparoscopic surgery using transoral approach has been developed. This type of surgery leaves no scar on the skin Scarless Thyroid Surgery using transoral approach offers a lot of advantages. Firstly, it can be performed on both sides of the thyroid gland without making additional incision. Besides, it makes surgeon easily see and well keep recurrent laryngeal nerves of the larynx. Secondly, after the surgery, voice of the patient seems not to be hoarse. Thirdly and most importantly, the patient has very little blood loss at 10-20 cc only during the operation. This type of surgery causes less pain to the patients and a few days after the operation, they feel no more pain.