Recovery After Thyroid and Parathyroid Surgery: How Do Our Patients Really Feel?

•Thirty six percent of patients did not use any opioids postoperatively.•Independent risk factors for increased postoperative opioid use were age < 60 y, body mass index > 30, preoperative opioid/tobacco use, and history of anxiety or depression, while loss of intraoperative recurrent laryngeal nerve signal was associated with decreased voice scores postoperatively (i.e., impaired voice).•Use of daily SMS/text message surveys can effectively monitor patient recovery and track outcomes in real-time which can be used to improve patient counseling and identify patient subsets that may benefit from closer follow-up/early intervention.