Propranolol for the preoperative preparation of patients with thyrotoxicosis.

Thirty patients with hyperthyroidism were were prepared for subtotal thyroidectomy with propranolol. Rapid control of thyrotoxic symptoms occurred in all, and there were no undesirable drug reactions. There were no instances of post-operative thyroid storm. The drug was as effective and safe in four patients who were pregnant as it was in the other 26 patients discussed. We consider propranolol to be the drug of choice in the preoperative preparation of most patients with thyrotoxicosis.