Time heals. A study of thyroidectomy scars.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the quality of the thyroidectomy scars over a long period of time.

METHODS

Over a period of two years the quality of the thyroidectomy scars among 283 consecutive patients was registered during their follow-up for malignancies. On a scale of 0 (excellent) to 3 (bad) thyroidectomy scars were classified according to the time after surgery.

RESULTS

After 5 years or more 95% of the scars were classified as excellent or very good; 55% of them were excellent, which indicates that the scar was virtually invisible at a distance of 1.5 meters. Only 5% of the cases had a regular or bad scar after 5-years or more, and only one patient (0.5%) had a bad scar.

CONCLUSION

The scars remaining after thyroid surgery had an improved appearance with time, and the vast majority of patients had an excellent or very good scar after a period of five years or more.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III.