Outcome and Technique of Auto Transplanting Thyroid Tissue after Total Thyroidectomy for Simple Multinodular Goiters

The procedure of thyroidectomy was developed by Theodore Kocher and William Halsted. Thyroid auto transplantation offers an attractive alternative to subtotal thyroidectomy and replacement therapy. However, it has not been sufficiently clinically investigated. Aim of this work evaluates the role of thyroid auto transplantation of fresh thyroid tissue done in the same session of total thyroidectomy (TT) for benign goiters to achieve a postoperative euthyroid state without the need for administration of life-long L-T4 replacement therapy. A prospective study was carried out on 40 patients with benign thyroid disorder where a small piece of healthy thyroid tissue about 15 gram is sliced by scissor and implanted in the Antero – lateral aspect of the non-dominant thigh. Demographic data of these patients include age, sex, evaluation of preoperative symptoms and signs, 32 thyroid tissue implants survived and showed variable degree of function as all the patients showed viability and new vascular formations at 1-month postoperatively and most of the patients had normal thyroid hormones levels at 6-months postoperatively. The best results in this study were achieved in young patients with preoperative pathology of simple nodular disease in whom maximum weight of non-nodular healthy thyroid tissue was implanted. Clinical application of thyroid auto-transplantation is an easy, safe and worthy technique to be adopted in selected patients after TT for benign goiter to achieve a postoperative euthyroid state without the need for administration of postoperative life-long L-T4 replacement therapy.