To establish a rat model of total thyroidectomy, and to explore the methods of establishing the model and the surgical techniques.

Wistar rats underwent total thyroidectomy with compression hemostasis (model group 1) or ligation hemostasis (model group 2). In rats receiving a sham operation, the neck was cut open to expose the thyroid gland without any treatment, sutured and closed. The number of rats required to obtain 10 successful models was calculated and the causes of failure were summarized. For the rats with successful operation, neck tissue sections at the thyroid level were stained with hematoxylin and eosin (HE) to observe the histopathological results, and serum T3, T4 and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) levels were measured.

To obtain 10 successful models, 10 rats were used in the sham operation group, 15 used in model group 1 and 11 in model group 2. Neck tissue sections stained with hematoxylin and eosin in the successful rat model showed no residual thyroid tissue. Thirty days after operation, compared with sham-operated rats, serum T3 and T4 significantly decreased [T3: (0.83±0.06) ng/mL vs (0.58±0.06) ng/mL; T4: (6.15±0.74) μg/mL vs (1.56±0.11) μg/mL, P<0.05)] while TSH significantly increased in model group 2 [(1.11±0.13) μIU/mL vs (20.29±3.50) μIU/mL, P<0.05].

Thyroidectomy with ligation hemostasis can be used to successfully establish a rat model of total thyroidectomy, and this method is safe, reliable and stable.