Neck Surgeries

Neck pain is a common condition that can have many different causes. Although surgery is a potential treatment for long-term neck pain, it’s rarely the first option. In fact, many cases of neck pain will eventually go away with the right type of conservative treatments.

Neck surgery is often a last resort option if conservative treatments aren’t effective at reducing chronic neck pain.

Thyroid Surgery

Thyroid surgery is performed for removal of an enlarged thyroid gland (goiter) in patients with Graves' disease. Graves' disease is the most common cause of hyperthyroidism in the United States, with an estimated annual incidence of 300 cases per 1 million persons. It is an autoimmune disorder characterized by a diffusely enlarged thyroid gland and thyrotoxicosis, caused by thyroid-stimulating immunoglobulins. These immunoglobulins primarily bind to and activate the thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) receptors. This results in increased iodine uptake, protein synthesis, growth of the thyroid gland, and synthesis and release of thyroglobulin and thyroid hormones.

Neck Node / Mass Removal

Surgery to remove the lymph nodes in the neck is called a neck dissection. Surgeons don't routinely do a neck dissection on everyone because it can have long term side effects. They have to consider carefully who will benefit from it.

Before your operation, your surgeon might know there is cancer in your lymph nodes. In this case, you have a neck dissection during your surgery to remove the cancer.

Neck masses can occur for a number of reasons. Most are benign (non-cancerous) and self-limited and do not require surgery. However, there are several types of neck masses may be surgically removed. This includes congenital (present since birth) cysts such as branchial cleft cysts and thyroglossal duct cyst, suspicious lymph nodes that cannot be diagnosed through other methods, and various cysts or masses that a patient prefers to have removed (such as sebaceous cysts and lipomas).