Evaluation and treatment of complications of thyroid and parathyroid surgery.

The major complications of thyroid and parathyroid surgery include hemorrhage, respiratory obstruction, hyperthyroid storm, hypoparathyroidism, and laryngeal nerve injury. In this article, the incidence, diagnosis, and treatment of various complications are reviewed, with emphasis on hypoparathyroidism and vocal cord paralysis, either bilateral or unilateral. Thyroplastic phonosurgery and carbon dioxide laser arytenoidectomy, two recent surgical additions to the rehabilitation of vocal cord paralysis, are described in depth.