Myasthenia Gravis Surgery
Surgery is an option for those whose condition is not getting better with medications or if their symptoms start to get worse day by day. Surgery might help in:
- Reducing the risk of going into the hospital because of worsening symptoms for 3 years after surgery
- Lowering the dose of steroids for controlling the symptoms
- Lesser chances of going back to immunosuppressant drugs
Following are the surgical options for myasthenia gravis patients:
Thymectomy
Thymectomy is the surgical procedure to remove the thymus gland in certain cases of myasthenia gravis patients. Thymectomy seems to improve the symptoms of myasthenia gravis in some people who have an abnormally large thymus gland. However, thymectomy is not the answer for every patient with abnormally large thymus gland. The symptoms of myasthenia gravis tend to get better after few months of surgery but it takes a total of 2 years to get fully better. Thymectomy might not have any effect on myasthenia gravis patients if a patients has thymoma i.e., an abnormally large thymus gland but surgery will help to avoid any further complications due to the larger thymus gland. The doctors use keyhole surgery technique to carry out the surgical removal of thymus gland by inserting surgical instruments inside the chest through small incisions.