Multithreading allows executing multiple tasks simultaneously by splitting a program into multiple threads. It is useful for improving performance on web applications and when disk/network I/O is involved. However, threads introduce complexity as code and data may be accessed concurrently. Synchronization techniques like mutexes are needed to coordinate thread access and prevent race conditions from causing unpredictable behavior. Developers must carefully manage shared resources and avoid deadlocks when using multithreading.