Extent of thyroidectomy for well-differentiated thyroid cancers

In patients with well-differentiated thyroid carcinoma (WDTC), the extent of thyroid surgery is controversial. There are proponents of both total thyroidectomy (TT) and thyroid lobectomy (TL). A review of literature was performed. We included studies investigating the extent of thyroid surgery, TT versus TL, for WDTC. Multiple studies have failed to show any significant difference in posttreatment recurrence between TT and lobectomy. In properly selected low-to-intermediate risk patients, the extent of initial thyroid surgery probably has little impact on disease-specific survival.