To clarify the safety of both total and near-total thyroidectomy, and to guide a selectionof an adequate type of surgical treatment of thyroid diseases, 192 consecutive total or near-total thyroidectomy cases were reviewed. They were divided into two groups: ont, the total thyroidectomy group(Group T,N=111) and the other, the near-total thyroidectomy group (Group NT, N=81). In both groups, complication rates, associations of complication rates with extents of surgery and stage of lesion were observed. Complication rate was significantly higher in Group T (53.6% vs 12.3%, p<0.05). But the rate of permanent complications such as permanent hypoparathyroidism and recurrent laryngeal nerve injury was remarkably low(4.5% in Group T, 6.0% in Group NT) and shows no significant difference in both groups. There was no permanent complication in cases where any type of neck dissection had not been performed regardless of the type thyroidectomy. But among whom underwent central compartmental neck dissection(CCND) and functional neck dissection(FND), 4(4.4%) and 4(6.4%) cases showed permanent complications. There was no statistical significance in differences between Group I and NT. In cases who underwent concomittant classical radical neck dissection(RND), 3(25.5%) showed permament complications. In this subgroups, complications were significantly higher in Group T(p<0.005). Complications were also directly related to the stage of the lesion. Only one patient showed permanent complication in 74 intracapsular lesions but 9 permanent complications were observed in 118 advanced lesions. We could clarify both total and near-total thyroidectomy were safe operations and the complications were related to accompanying neck dissections and the disease status rather than total or near-total thyroidectomy itself. Thus, we think that for the cases where higher complication rates are expected, such as locally advanced thryoid cancers or the cases which required wider neck dissection, the near-total thyroidectomy would be a preferrable method.