Purpose: The study investigated clinical features of patients who underwent thyroid surgery, with and without Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 150 patients who underwent thyroid surgery at the Depart...
Purpose: The study investigated clinical features of patients who underwent thyroid surgery, with and without Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 150 patients who underwent thyroid surgery at the Department of Surgery, Wallace Memorial Baptist Hospital, between January 2007 and December 2008. Patients were divided into two groups according to occurrence or non-occurrence of Hashimoto's thyroiditis, and analyzed them for age, sex, day of hospitalization, duration of drain keeping, operation time, and post-operative complications, including recurrent laryngeal nerve injuries, hypoparathyroidism, hypocalcemia, and adjacent structure injury. There were 24 lobectomies and 126 total thyroidectomies. Results: Operation time was longer for patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis. There was little difference between the two groups with respect to day of hospitalization, duration of draining, or post-operative complications. Of the total thyroidectomy cases without Hashimoto's thyroiditis, 36 patients (37.5%) had transient hypocalcemia and four (4.2%) had permanent hypocalcemia. Of the cases with Hashimoto's thyroiditis, 13 patients (38.2%) had transient hypocalcemia and three (8.8%) had permanent hypocalcemia. Patients undergoing thyroid surgery with Hashimoto's thyroiditis had longer operation times due to increased angiogenesis and fibrosis. No difference was shown for other clinical features or post-operative complications. Conclusion: The data strongly indicate that meticulous hemostasis and careful surgical technique, along with an understanding of anatomic variation and surgical experience, leads to a low late of complications following thyroid surgery, even for patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis. (Korean J Endocrine Surg 2011;11:242-247)