What is a hemithyroidectomy?

A hemithyroidectomy is an operation in which one of the two lobes of the thyroid gland is removed. It is often performed to evaluate a nodule that has proven to be suspicious for possible thyroid cancer. When such a nodule is removed, it is immediately frozen and submitted for pathologic examination to see if it likely to be thyroid cancer. If the suspicion is high enough, the surgeon may proceed to remove the remainder of the thyroid as part of the same operation. If not, the surgeon may leave the remainder of the thyroid in place. If the nodule later proves to be thyroid cancer, the remainder of the thyroid may be removed in a separate operation called a completion thyroidectomy.

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