A Look at Thyroid Surgery with Local Anesthesia

Usually, surgical removal of the thyroid is done while the patient is under general -- not local -- anesthesia. But for about a decade, selected surgeons have been doing some thyroid surgeries -- removing all or part of the thyroid in the surgery known as thyroidectomy -- using local anesthesia. Thyroidectomy is done as a treatment for thyroid cancer, and to treat some cases of thyroid enlargement, nodules, or overactive thyroid. What are the experts saying about the outcome for local anesthesia for thyroid surgery? Find out.