Difficulty in Swallowing, Post Partial Thyroidectomy

[rameshnatarajan]

My wife underwent a Partial Thyroidectomy couple of years back and has started complaining about difficulty in swallowing of food /saliva for the past 2 days. she is also having some continious burps, which is also aggrevating the difficulty on her throat, i am not sure how to relate to the symptoms she is referring too.  Can you suggest what could be the issue ? ..
history for her partial thyroidectomy was a swelling on her right thyroid lobe and we got to understand from the surgeon Post surgery that it had very early signs of cancer cells in the removed lobe and suggested it was the right thing to do.

[Mark Lupo, M.D.]

This sounds like gastro-esophogeal reflux (may happen even without heartburn) --- acid sneaking up to the throat area.  It is not likely related to surgery given this time-frame.  We sometimes would do thyroid ultrasound to make sure there is no new thyroid area soft-tissue abnormality.

Would see your primary doctor, but often the practical suggestion is a 2-3 week course of over-the-counter Prilosec (or generic equivalent) -- but certainly see your doctor as well.

[rameshnatarajan]

Thanks Doctor !.. Appreciate taking your time to Respond ..will follow through your advice