A UK-Wide Survey of Life-Threatening Thyroidectomy Complications

Abstract

Background and Aims. Complications following thyroidectomy can prolong hospital stay and cause significant morbidity particularly for patients treated for benign thyroid conditions. Our aim was to administer a UK-wide survey of thyroid surgery units on frequency and timing of the onset of life-threatening airway complications & correlate to factors that might be associated with them. Methods. A questionnaire including the number of and timing of the onset of life-threatening airway complications, number of thyroidectomy procedures performed per year, surgeon years of experience, the use of difficult airway management protocol, post-operative patient destination, and patient deaths, was sent to 80 UK surgical units. Results. 23/41 hospitals responded reported no postthyroidectomy airway complications. Life-threatening airways complications all occurred within the first 12 hours postoperatively, with 9 cases occurring in the recovery room and in less than 2 hours, 3 cases occurring 2–6 hours, and 3 cases occurring 6 to 12 hours after surgery. Conclusion. The results may support recent publications that advocate thyroidectomy as a less-than-24-hour surgery procedure in selected patients. Further a larger study and standardised protocol are required to establish patients' selection criteria to determine who are likely to develop serious postoperative complication and may require HDU bed.