Fortunately, thyroid cyst treatment doesn’t usually mean surgery. Conservative methods are more favorable. They include the drainage and medications. Saving the whole organ is always the priority for medics. Only in case of really big tumors, complications and malignancy the gland is surgically exposed.
When thyroid cyst treatment is not required
Even though most of thyroid gland cysts are benign, their behavior is unpredictable. In some cases, they do not give negative dynamics for years. In others – disappear themselves.
Usually people go to the doctor when the cyst has grown to the size over 3 cm. Then it becomes visible to the eye and causes deformation of the neck, hoarseness or voice loss, a lump in the throat, distress of the swallowing function, pain. But one shouldn’t wait until the cyst has grown to the size. If a lump is noticed, they should attend a doctor.
To the tumor with a diameter less than 1 cm no specific thyroid cyst treatment is prescribed. More often the patient and doctor just watch it. In case of the increasing a puncture cytology is carried out. But if the cyst appears and accumulates liquid again after the emptying, there arises a question of surgical removal.
No warm-compresses on the cyst! As these may provoke inflammation.
Conservative thyroid cyst treatment
An effective thyroid cyst treatment is drainage. The procedure includes puncturing followed by sclerosing agents injection. This non-invasive procedure that can be carried out repeatedly if the tumor relapses.
Medication therapy as a way of treatment are prescribed if no malignancy detected. The list of drugs prescribed include use of drugs to regulate thyroid hormones, anti-inflammatory, metabolic, the ones to improve blood circulation, to reduce the swelling and to reduce size of the cyst.
Antibiotic therapy is performed when there are infections. This method requires accurate identification of the type of the pathogen. Patient’s sensitivity to antimicrobial drugs should also be considered. The therapy is more effective at the early stages of the disease. It can significantly reduce the possibility of surgical interventions.
Only doctor determines how to treat thyroid gland cyst in each individual patient’s case.
When surgical thyroid cyst treatment is prescribed?
When progressive growth of the cysts and symptoms of respiratory disorders, difficulty in swallowing appear, surgical treatment of thyroid cysts is the choice.
Other reasons for surgical operation is increased risk of the cyst transition into a malignant tumor. When doctor gets the confirmed laboratory data, operation is performed immediately. Stage of the disease and its size in case of malignant tumours don’t matter. Conservative thyroid cyst treatment is not applied, as it more likely leads to the deterioration of the patient state and development of more severe cancer.
How the surgery is performed
Surgical treatment of the malignant tumor usually includes bilateral thyroid resection. It is removal of the majority gland tissues from both sides. After this operation doctor carefully monitors the level of thyroid hormones and, if necessary, appointed its correction. The level is controlled by medical hormones (thyroid hormone).
A frequent complication of this operation is a violation of the vocal cords with a partial loss of voice. If a cyst is diagnosed only on the left or right lobe of the thyroid gland, the operation is performed only on the affected side. Removal of the thyroid gland cyst is done through a small incision in the neck in the area of thyroid gland.
The postoperative course is no hard, no long. Returning to normal life occurs within 1-2 days without limits in physical activity.
Thyroid cyst treatment for pregnant women
A special feature of the treatment for pregnant women is the exclusion of radiological methods. A biopsy and surgical treatment during pregnancy is not recommended. Doctor must take into account the related risks when planning treatment.
When there are indications for the surgical operation, it is recommended to perform it in the second trimester of pregnancy. In the absence of compression adjacent organs or thyroid dysfunction thyroid cyst treatment is carried out in the postpartum period.
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