Table 2. Summary of the main advantages and disadvantages of partial thyroidectomy in comparison to total thyroidectomy.

Advantages of lobectomy versus total thyroidectomy	Disadvantages of lobectomy versus total thyroidectomy
Lower surgical risks	Risk of completion surgery to improve prognosis and/or administer radioactive iodine
Thyroid hormone supplementation may not be necessary	Patients may still require thyroid hormone supplementation (thyroiditis or little remaining parenchyma)
Comparable survival	No evidence of quality of life improvement
Completion surgery, if necessary, does not increase surgical risk neither modify outcome	Not adequate for intermediate- and high-risk patients
	Thyroglobulin may not be appropriate for follow-up

Modified from: Hartl DM, Guerlain J, Breuskin I, Hadoux J, Baudin E, Al Ghuzlan A, Terroir-Cassou-Mounat M, Lamartina L, Leboulleux S. Thyroid Lobectomy for Low to Intermediate Risk Differentiated Thyroid Cancer. Cancers (Basel). 2020 Nov 6;12(11):3282.