Compared to surgery, what are the advantages and disadvantages of the radioactive treatment?
Advantages:
No risk of anesthesia, no bleeding and no risk of infection or injury to the vocal cord nerves (hoarseness).
Disadvantage:
The outcome of the therapy appears late and can only be determined about 3 months after radioactive therapy, although the outcome after surgery is immediate.
Note:
By eliminating the cause of the disease, both surgery and radioiodine therapy can lead to hypothyroidism, in which case a lifelong administration of thyroid hormones is necessary.
