Background: Thyroidectomy is the surgical removal of all or part of the thyroid gland for non-neoplastic and neoplastic thyroid diseases. Major postoperative complications of thyroidectomy, including recurrent laryngeal nerve injury, hypocalcemia, and hypothyroidism, are not infrequent.
Objective: Summarize the frequency of surgical complications of thyroidectomy.
Design: Retrospective.
Setting: Secondary health facility in southwestern Saudi Arabia.
Patients and methods: We collected data from the records of patients who were managed for thyroid diseases between December 2013 and December 2019.
Main outcome measure: Complications following thyroidectomy.
Sample size: 339 patients, 280 (82.6%) females and 59 (17.4%) males.
Results: We found 311 (91.7%) benign and 28 (8.3%) malignant thyroid disorders. Definitive management included 129 (38.1%) total thyroidectomies, 70 (20.6%) hemithyroidectomies, 10 (2.9%) subtotal thyroidectomies and 5 (1.5%) near-total thyroidectomies with 125 (36.9%) patients treated non-surgically. The overall complication rate was 11.3%. There were 4 (1.9%) patients with recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy, 16 (7.5%) patients with temporary hypoparathyroidism, 1 (0.5%) patient with paralysis of the external branch of the superior laryngeal nerve and 3 (1.4%) patients with wound hematoma.
Conclusion: The rate of complications following thyroidectomy is still high. There is a need for emphasis on comprehensive measures to control the high rate of complications.
Limitations: Retrospective design and no long-term follow up to monitor late complications.
Conflict of interest: None.