Operative Treatment of Thyroid Nodules

A thyroid nodule is a growth within the thyroid gland. Thyroid nodules are extremely common and can be seen in 5 to 10 percent of women and 1 to 5 percent of men. Fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) is the gold-standard diagnostic investigation. The objective of this study was to describe the diagnosis and surgical treatment of nodular disease and cancer of the thyroid gland. This is a prospective study of 124 consecutive patients treated surgically for thyroid nodules at Regional Hospital, of Shkodra, Albania over the period 20110-2013. There were (22 %) males and (78 %) females, with a mean age of 46.3 years old with a range 18-75 years old). The female-to-male ratio was 3.5/1. . The mean history period was 4.4 years and the mean duration of hospitalization was 7.9 days. The reason for surgery was presence of mechanical complications (12 %), hyperthyroidism (15 %), solitary nodules (52 %) and suspected cancer (21 %). Fine-needle aspiration biopsy are the best diagnostic tools for differentiating benign nodules from suspicious or malignant nodules.