This publication is historically significant because it documents one of the earliest systematic attempts to make thyroid surgery safer through both anesthetic choice and operative refinement. It provides insight into pre‑pharmacologic management of hyperthyroidism and the evolution of surgical standards that shaped modern endocrine surgery.

This early 20th‑century surgical report by Thomas Peel Dunhill outlines his experience performing partial thyroidectomy under local anesthesia, with particular emphasis on its application in patients with exophthalmic goiter (now recognized as Graves’ disease). Dunhill describes the operative rationale, technical considerations, and advantages of local anesthesia in reducing perioperative risk during a period when mortality from thyroid surgery remained significant. The paper highlights his preference for staged or unilateral subtotal resection—an approach that would later become known as the “Dunhill procedure”—and emphasizes the importance of minimizing surgical stress in hyperthyroid patients. This publication represents one of the foundational contributions to safer operative management of Graves’ disease prior to the development of antithyroid medications and radioactive iodine therapy.