Specialty: ENT
Age group: Adult
Direct to an appropriate emergency department for:
- Thyroid mass with difficulty in breathing or with bleeding from the nodule.
Criteria for referral to public hospital specialist clinic services
- Suspected or confirmed malignancy
- Compressive symptoms:
- changing voice
- difficulty in breathing
- dysphagia
- suspicious dominant nodules or compressive neck nodes
- Generalised thyroid enlargement without compressive symptoms
- Recurrent thyroid cysts
- An increase in the size of previously identified benign thyroid lumps greater than 1 centimetre in diameter.
Information to be included in the referral
Information that must be provided:
- Ultrasound with, or without, fine needle aspiration results
- Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) and free thyroxine (T4) results.
Provide if available:
Not applicable.
Additional comments
The Summary and referral information lists the information that should be included in a referral request.
Note: there are also endocrinology statewide referral criteria for Thyroid mass and Hyperthyroidism. Referrals for patients with hyperthyroidism should be directed to an endocrinology service.
Where appropriate and available, the referral may be directed to an alternative specialist clinic or service.
Referral to a public hospital is not appropriate for
- Non-bacterial thyroiditis
- Uniform, enlarged gland suggestive of thyroiditis without other symptoms.
Reviewed 27 May 2025