Traditionally thyroid surgery has been considered a major operation and patients have often stayed in for several days and had drains placed in the neck after an operation.

This is still how thyroid surgery is performed in many hospitals in the UK

Strap muscles

These run vertically in the middle of the neck below the skin (see diagram). Many surgeons still cut across them to access the thyroid gland beneath. Cutting any muscle is painful afterwards, can cause bleeding and in this cosmetic area may affect the way your neck looks forever.

Mr McLaren does not cut these muscles except in rare circumstances.

Daycase thyroid surgery

Mr McLaren is the first surgeon in the UK to introduce daycase thyroid surgery into routine practice. We achieve this in over 95% of our patients undergoing thyroid lobectomy (removal of half the thyroid).

Patients having a total thyroidectomy stay just one night – the average in the UK is over 2 nights after this operation.

This improvement is the result of a combined surgical and anaesthetic approach.

Mr McLaren has published the results of this work in national surgical journals and presented at the British Association of Day Surgery and the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland.

The Harmonic Scalpel (Ethicon EndoSurgery) is used in all cases.  This advanced instrument helps reduce incision size and improves the quality of thyroid surgery.  Mr McLaren lectures on this and daycase thyroid surgery at the European Surgical Institute in Hamburg.

Benefits of minimal access technique:

• no painkillers needed for most patients after surgery
• daycase surgery
• maximum 1 night in hospital (for total thyroid removal)
• rapid recovery
• early return to work

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