Management of retrosternal goitres: A 4 year institutional review in a tertiary hospital.

Abstract

Objective: To account for the characteristic presentations, pathology and the post-operative complications of surgical treatment of retrosternal goitre. Study Design: Retrospective Descriptive study. Setting: Department of Otorhinolaryngology at Rehman Medical Institute, Peshawar. Period: July 2016 and December 2019. Material & Methods: All patients that underwent thyroidectomy during the study period were included in the study. The thyroid gland that did not have retrosternal extensions were excluded. Retrospective chart records of all these patients were analysed. Data obtained from the charts was recorded on Statistical package for social services version 23.0 and analysed for descriptive statistics. Results: 67 patients with goiters were at the tertiary care center of Peshawar, females (77.6%) and males (22.4%). 6 (8.9%) were retrosternal. The most common symptoms were neck swelling (83.3%) followed by shortness of breath (66.7%). Post-operative hypocalcaemia was the most common complication among retrosternal thyroidectomy patients (66.7%). Only one patient needed sternotomy. Conclusion: All patients with retrosternal goitre should be offered surgery. The post-operative complications are low and resolve uneventfully.