Total thyroidectomy replaces subtotal thyroidectomy as the preferred surgical treatment for Graves' disease

BACKGROUND: Total thyroidectomy is increasingly being adopted for patients requiring surgical treatment for Graves' disease based on a comparable surgical risk and the lack of recurrence, as well as the questionable ability of subtotal thyroidectomy to maintain euthyroidism. The purpose of the present paper was to evaluate its safety and efficiency. METHODS: Total thyroidectomy was adopted as part of the routine surgical treatment for Graves' disease from 2000. Patients who underwent subtotal thyroidectomy (STT) from 1995 to 1999 (n = 119) were compared with those who underwent total thyroidectomy (TT) from 2000 to 2003 (n = 98) with respect to immediate postoperative morbidity and long-term outcome. RESULTS: Fourteen (11.8%) and 22 patients (22.4%) required calcium supplement on discharge in the STT and TT groups, respectively (P < 0.05). One (0.8%) and three patients (3.1%) developed permanent hypocalcaemia, respectively. Transient recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy occurred in 9.2% (n = 11) and 5.1% (n = 5) of patients or 5.0% and 2.6% of nerves at risk after STT and TT, respectively. None of the patients had permanent nerve palsy. The estimated blood loss was less and hospital stay shorter after TT. During a mean follow up of 64 months, 86 patients (72.3%) in the STT group required thyroxine replacement and seven patients (5.9%) developed relapse. CONCLUSION: Subtotal thyroidectomy was associated with relapse as well as hypothyroidism in a significant proportion of patients during long-term follow up. Total thyroidectomy can be performed as safely as STT and should be recommended as the procedure of choice for patients requiring surgical treatment for Graves' disease.     

Total thyroidectomy is now the preferred option for the surgical management of Graves' disease

Purpose: Subtotal thyroidectomy has been advocated as the standard treatment for Graves’ disease because of the possibility of avoiding thyroxine therapy as well as the assumed lower risk of complications compared to total thyroidectomy. However, the long‐term results of subtotal thyroidectomy are not as good as they were previously believed to be, as evidenced by the increasing incidence of hypothyroidism. If the risk of complications from total thyroidectomy is no higher, then that procedure offers significant advantages in the surgical management of Graves’ disease. The aim of this study therefore was to compare the complication rate of the two procedures in patients with Graves’ disease. Methods: This was a retrospective case control study in a tertiary referral hospital. Information was obtained from an endocrine surgery database over the study period from January 1957 to December 2000. During that period 1246 patients with Graves’ disease underwent subtotal thyroidectomy and 119 patients underwent total thyroidectomy. Results: Prior to 1987 total thyroidectomy was rarely if ever performed whereas in the last 12 months total thyroidectomy comprised 95% of all procedures. There was no significant difference in the rate of permanent complications between the two procedures although temporary hypocalcaemia was significantly more common following total thyroidectomy. Permanent hypoparathyroidism resulted in one patient each who underwent total thyroidectomy (0.8%) and subtotal thyroidectomy (0.1%). Permanent recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy occurred in one patient who underwent total thyroidectomy (0.8%) and 5 patients undergoing subtotal thyroidectomy (0.4%). Conclusion: Given that subtotal thyroidectomy provides an unpredictable outcome and that the risk of permanent complications is no greater than with total thyroidectomy, there appears little logical reason to continue to recommend subtotal thyroidectomy for the surgical management of Graves’ disease. We believe that Graves’ disease should join the increasing list of thyroid conditions for which total thyroidectomy is the preferred option.     

Total thyroidectomy for multinodular goiter in the elderly

BACKGROUND: Total thyroidectomy for multinodular goiter (MNG) is increasingly being performed for the elderly population and yet their perioperative and long-term outcomes remain unclear. METHODS: A total of 279 patients who underwent total thyroidectomy for MNG in a university-based hospital during a 9-year period were analyzed according to their age at the time of operation. RESULTS: The duration of operation (P=.023), intraoperative blood loss (P=.030), weight of resected thyroid glands (P<.001) and proportion of retrosternal goiter (P<.001) were significantly greater in the elderly group (>/=70 years) (n = 55), but the incidence of surgically related complications, including recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy and hypoparathyroidism, was similar. Postoperative pneumonia occurred more frequently in the elderly group (P=.034). The number of comorbidities tended to correlate with the length of hospital stay and long-term survival in elderly patients. CONCLUSIONS: Total thyroidectomy for MNG in elderly patients had a similar perioperative outcome as their younger counterparts, but their long-term outcome is likely to be influenced by the number of comorbidities.     

Surgical management of the recurrent laryngeal nerve in thyroidectomy: American Head and Neck Society Consensus Statement

“I have noticed in operations of this kind, which I have seen performed by others upon the living, and in a number of excisions, which I have myself performed on the dead body, that most of the difficulty in the separation of the tumor has occurred in the region of these ligaments…. This difficulty, I believe, to be a very frequent source of that accident, which so commonly occurs in removal of goiter, I mean division of the recurrent laryngeal nerve.” Sir James Berry (1887)     

Complications in the surgery of benign thyroid disease

Summary   Background: Thyroid surgery has developed from a life-threatening intervention in the last century to an efficient, wide-spread, and safe procedure for half a million goitre patients per year in Europe. The mortality of thyroid surgery has been reduced to a very low percentage due to progress in the control of bleeding and experience in the management of tracheal problems. It is the purpose of this report to review the actual problems in surgery of the benign thyroid. Methods: Data were collected from a large series (n = 5961 patients operated in our department between 1986 and 1998) and the literature. Results: The major specific complications in surgery of benign thyroid disease are palsy of the recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) at a rate of about 0.5–2.5 % in primary surgery, about 3 % in recurrent goitre, and 1.5–5 % in retrosternal and recurrent retrosternal goitre. Whereas temporary hypocalcaemia is observed in about 30 % of patients during the first postoperative days, temporary hypoparathyroidism necessitating substitution of calcium and active vitamin D is observed in about 6 % of patients, its frequency increasing in more extended procedures and recurrences. Permanent hypoparathyroidism occurs in 0.5–4.0 % of patients and may be reduced to below 1 % by meticulous surgical technique and deliberate autotransplantation of all parathyroid glands with potentially compromised blood supply. Damage to the superior laryngeal nerve is an important, annoying, avoidable, but insufficiently recognized feature of thyroid surgery that needs further work-up. Conclusions: The risk of complications depends on the extent of surgery, the nature of the underlying disease, and the experience of the surgeon. Particular surgical problems are raised by recurrent thyroid disease, large glands, thyroid autonomy, retrosternal or even mediastinal localisation, and previous damage to the RLN or parathyroids. In such instances the patient should be referred to a specialised centre since the surgeon’s experience can help to bring the rate of surgical complications down to those of ordinary procedures.      

甲状腺癌术后早期残留甲状腺再次手术中喉返神经监测的作用

目的探讨术中神经监测术在甲状腺癌术后5~15天行残留甲状腺切除术中的应用,对术后血清甲状腺球蛋白、喉返神经及甲状旁腺功能的影响。方法回顾性分析中山大学孙逸仙纪念医院甲状腺外科2010年1月至2016年12月甲状腺手术的患者资料,对符合纳入标准的病例进行分析,并根据术中是否使用神经监测术分为神经监测组和非神经监测组,统计分析术后暂时性及永久性喉返神经损伤性声音嘶哑、暂时性及永久性甲状旁腺功能低下发生率、术前及术后血清甲状腺球蛋白(Tg)浓度。结果符合纳入标准患者435例,其中神经监测组227例、非神经监测组208例。神经监测组平均术前血清Tg浓度为18.66±2.3 ng/mL,非神经监测组平均术前Tg浓度为17.43±1.4 ng/mL,差异无统计学意义(P0.05)。非神经监测组8.67%(18/208)患者出现暂时性声嘶,神经监测组2.2%(5/227)患者出现暂时性声嘶,有统计学差异(P0.05)。非神经监测组1.92%(4/208)患者出现永久性声嘶,神经监测组0.44%(1/227)患者出现永久性声嘶,无统计学差异(P0.05);非神经监测组18.75%(39/208)患者出现暂时性甲状旁腺功能减退,神经监测组7.49%(17/227)患者出现暂时性甲状旁腺功能减退,有统计学差异(P0.05);非神经监测组1.92%(4/208)患者出现永久性甲状旁腺功能减退,神经监测组0.88%(2/227)患者出现永久性甲状旁腺功能减退,两组比较没有统计学差异(P0.05)。非神经监测组术后1月平均Tg浓度为2.82±0.2 ng/mL,神经监测组术后1月平均Tg浓度为1.37±0.2 ng/mL,有统计学差异(P0.05)。非神经监测组45.06%(94/208)患者术后1个月平均Tg浓度小于1 ng/mL,神经监测组67.4%(153/227)患者术后1个月平均Tg浓度为小于1 ng/mL,有统计学差异(P0.05)。结论残留甲状腺切除术中应用术中神经监测术可降低喉返神经损伤及甲状旁腺功能低下发生率,提高残留甲状腺组织及癌组织切除的彻底性,可将初次术后残余甲状腺手术的"窗口期"由5天延长至15天。     

The Impact of Solid Organ Transplant History on Inpatient Complications,Mortality, Length of Stay,and Cost for Primary Total Hip Arthroplasty Admissions in the United States

Background

As the prevalence of and life expectancy after solid organ transplantation increases, some of these patients will require total hip arthroplasty (THA). Immunosuppressive therapy, metabolic disorders, and post-transplant medications may place transplant patients at higher risk of adverse events following surgery. The objective of this study was to compare inpatient complications, mortality, length of stay (LOS), and costs for THA patients with and without solid organ transplant history.