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- Surgery
is moderately expensive.
- Hospitalization
is required (1-3 days).
- Performing
general anesthesia and surgery on a geriatric cat with potential heart
disease has inherent risks.
- This is
the most difficult procedure; it is often difficult to identify and
completely remove all involved thyroid tissue, especially when the tumor
is located in an ectopic location such as the chest cavity.
- The parathyroid
glands, little glands that lie adjacent to the thyroid that control
calcium balance in the body, may be damaged or accidentally removed,
resulting in hypocalcemia (low calcium crisis).
- Other
serious complications may include vocal cord paralysis and Horner's
syndrome caused by nerve injury in neck area.
- If all
thyroid tumor tissue is not removed, hyperthyroidism is likely to persist
or recur shortly after surgery.
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