Total or near-total bilateral thyroidectomy after subtotal bilateral thyroidectomy YANG Wei-ping, SHAO Tang-lei,CHEN Wei-gou, et al.Department of General Surgery, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China. Corresponding author:SHAO Tang-lei,E-mail:shaotl_03@hotmail.com Abstract Objective To evaluate the safety of total or near-total bilateral thyroidectomy after subtotal bilateral thyroidectomy. Methods Thirty-four cases of subtotal bilateral thyroidectomy because of benign thyroid disease were performed total or near-total bilateral thyroidectomy because of the recurrence of nodules between June 1995 and June 2008 at Ruijin Hospital of Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine. The clinical data of all the cases were analyzed. Results Partial fibers of right recurrent laryngeal nerves were cut at their entrance to the larynges in 2 cases.But the mobility of the vocal cord return to normal and the hoarseness were disappeared 6 months after operation. Hypocalcaemia was occurred in 6 cases.The hypocalcaemia disappeared by calcium supplementing through oral or/and intravenously in 5 of 6 cases 2 weeks after operation. But the righr superior parathyroid was cut inadvertently in one thyroid papillary cancer case, and the case underwent parathyroid autotransplantation. Hypocalcaemia was alleviated gradually 1 year after operation in the case. The levels of calcaemia and PTH were still under the normal until 14 months after operation. Conclusion If choosing the right way to expose the remnant gland and being familiar with the anatomical position of bilateral recurrent laryngeal nerves and parathyroids, it is safety to perform total or near-total bilateral thyroidectomy after subtotal bilateral thyroidectomy.