Thyroid Surgery

The Department of Thyroid Surgery of the Second Hospital of Dalian Medical University is a subspecialty of General Surgery, a national-level key specialty; the national “Demonstration Base for Standardized Diagnosis and Treatment of Thyroid (Parathyroid) Diseases”; the Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Thyroid (Parathyroid) Diseases of the Second Hospital of Dalian Medical University; and the earliest-established integrated diagnosis and treatment center for thyroid tumors in southern Liaoning.

The department specializes in the standardized surgical diagnosis and treatment of benign and malignant tumors of the thyroid and parathyroid glands. It has 32 authorized beds and performs more than 2,000 thyroid operations annually, over 70% of which are for malignant thyroid tumors. It has participated in formulating multiple Chinese professional guidelines for thyroid surgery, including the “Expert Consensus on Endoscopic Thyroid Surgery via the Anterior Chest Approach,” the “Expert Consensus on Endoscopic Thyroid Surgery via the Oral Vestibular Approach,” the “Guidelines for the Protection of Parathyroid Function During the Perioperative Period of Thyroid Surgery,” and the “Chinese Expert Consensus on the Surgical Treatment of Hyperthyroidism.” With strong clinical technical capabilities and proficient surgical expertise, the department has an experienced, highly accomplished team of thyroid surgeons and commands nationally leading diagnostic and treatment methods and surgical capabilities.

The department vigorously promotes minimally invasive endoscopic radical surgery for thyroid cancer, and its rate of endoscopic thyroid surgery far exceeds the national average. It now routinely performs radical thyroid cancer surgery via the whole-areola approach, oral vestibular approach, and axillary approach, and is also the earliest department in Liaoning Province to perform da Vinci robot-assisted radical thyroid cancer surgery combined with lateral cervical lymph node dissection. Through precise surgical assessment and individualized minimally invasive surgical plans, it not only ensures the curative effect of radical thyroid cancer surgery, but also maximally preserves patients’ neck motor function and improves the cosmetic appearance of the neck, greatly enhancing the postoperative quality of life of patients with thyroid cancer. In addition, for locally advanced thyroid cancer involving important neck structures such as the larynx, trachea, and esophagus, the department performs repair and reconstructive surgery, implements the concept of functional surgery, and improves the quality of life of patients with advanced thyroid cancer.

The department has established the Basic and Clinical Research Platform for Thyroid Tumors at the Second Hospital of Dalian Medical University and has long conducted cutting-edge research on thyroid cancer. In recent years, it has led 8 projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, more than 20 provincial- and municipal-level scientific research projects, and published more than 100 SCI-indexed papers. It has trained more than 100 doctoral and master’s students, and has trained large numbers of outstanding surgeons and medical science and technology professionals for hospitals throughout China.

The Department of Thyroid Surgery remains patient-centered, with standardized and minimally invasive diagnosis and treatment of thyroid tumors as its distinctive features. It continuously improves its diagnostic and treatment standards, strengthens talent development and discipline construction, and consolidates its cultural development and management standards. It has now developed into an important center for the diagnosis and treatment of thyroid tumors in Northeast China.