Surgical tips and techniques to avoid complications of thyroid surgery.

The most common complication of total thyroidectomy with an occurrence ranging between 0.5 and 65% is hypoparathyroidism. Damage to recurrent laryngeal nerves can be temporary or permanent, unilateral or bilateral; bilateral lesion is associated with severe episodes of breathlessness. Thus, intraoperative monitoring of nerve function is essential to prevent damage. Ιn addition, hematoma formation can lead to breathing difficulties due to airway obstruction; preventive hemostasis during surgery is essential. The surgeon must have a complete anatomical understanding of not only the normal anatomy of the central visceral compartment of the neck, but also the common variations of the laryngeal nerves and parathyroid glands in order to keep the complication rate at a very low level.