Thyroid diseases is a common disease. Surgical operation is the main treatment for Thyroid Diseases and it is widely carried out in hospitals of different levels. The early operations including thyroid surgical exploration, nodules resection, glandular lobe resection, were gradually replaced by thyroid lobectomy, thyroid subtotal or total resection surgery. Individualized surgical choice, according to national guidelines and doctors’ own professional technology level, should weigh the recurrence and the risk of complications, avoid excessive or insufficent treatment, so as to maximize the benefit of patients. The selection of procedure, incision and approach must follow the concept of “function protection, minimally invasive beauty”. This article reviews the progress on the selection of thyroid operative options, incisions and approaches.

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