Risks are those of general surgery:

• Reaction to anesthesia
• Excessive loss of blood
• Infection

Additional risks specific to this surgery include the following:

• Injury to the laryngeal nerve (the nerve to the vocal cords). This is extremely rare.
• Hematoma (blood collection under the skin)
• Breathing difficulty
• Hypocalcemia (low blood calcium) as a response to lack of parathyroid stimulation related to the surgery

It is possible that the physician may not be able to locate the parathyroid glands during the procedure.