A guide to the physiology and testing of thyroid function

The safe patient for surgery is the euthyroid patient. Though urgent surgery on unstable thyroid patients can produce good results, it is everyone’s experience that the risk of surgery is increased in those who are dysthyroid. It is critical to the surgeon that the patient about to undergo surgery has normal thyroid function. Hence, an understanding of thyroid physiology and thyroid function tests is a great asset to every surgeon and especially an endocrine surgeon.