Lymph node mapping is a detailed head and neck ultrasound that evaluates lymph nodes around the thyroid gland and in the neck adjacent to the thyroid gland. By identifying suspicious lymph nodes prior to surgery, your thyroid doctor can accurately inform your surgeon on how extensive your thyroid surgery needs to be. Getting the correct surgery the first time can save you from having to undergo additional surgeries in the future.

If you have a biopsy-proven thyroid cancer or a suspicious thyroid nodule, it is important to undergo lymph node mapping prior to the removal of your thyroid gland (This is endorsed by the American Thyroid Association). Ultrasound results are highly dependent on the person performing the procedure, so getting your lymph node mapping performed by an expert is important. Dr. Henderson has performed over 10,000 lymph node mappings and helped direct thousands of surgical interventions.

Lymph node mapping is also performed after thyroid surgery to monitor for thyroid cancer recurrence. The most likely place for most thyroid cancers to return is in the lymph nodes in the neck. If you already have thyroid cancer, you should be getting lymph node mappings regularly to monitor for recurrence.