Postoperative Complications of Thyroid Surgery: A Corroborative Study with an Overview of Evolution of Thyroid Surgery

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background To study the frequency of postoperative complications after thyroid surgery indicated for various benign and malignant lesions and to corroborate the results in relation to the extent of surgery and a clinical overview of evolution of thyroid surgery. Materials and methods An analytical study was carried out at a tertiary care center over a period of 3 years from January 2011 to December 2013. Data were collected from 80 patients who underwent thyroidectomies for various thyroid diseases at this center. Results Hemithyroidectomy, isthmusectomy, subtotal, neartotal, and total thyroidectomies were performed in 36 (45%), 6 (7.5%), 8 (10%), 10 (12.5%), and 20 (25%) cases respectively. The overall postoperative complication rate was 20%. Postoperative hypocalcemia and recurrent laryngeal nerve injury were the most common complications. Permanent hypocalcemia and permanent recurrent laryngeal nerve injury were observed in 3.75 and 2.5% of all operated cases respectively. The less common complications were wound hematoma, seroma formation, and superior laryngeal nerve injury. There was no mortality observed in our series. Conclusion The overall complication rate can be minimized by operating in a bloodless field, doing a meticulous dissection, and correctly identifying and preserving recurrent and superior laryngeal nerves along with parathyroid glands, if feasible. How to cite this article Pandey AK, Maithani T, Agrahari A, Varma A, Bansal C, Bhardwaj A, Singh VP, Rathi S. Postoperative Complications of Thyroid Surgery: A Corroborative Study with an Overview of Evolution of Thyroid Surgery. Int J Head Neck Surg 2015;6(4):149-154.