Post-Thyroidectomy Complications at St Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College, Ethiopia: Associated Factors and Outcomes

Abstract

Introduction

Major post-thyroidectomy complications, including recurrent laryngeal nerve injury, hypocalcemia, hypothyroidism, and hematoma, are associated with various risk factors, including the type of thyroid pathology, underlying patient comorbidities, extent of surgical resection, and the level of expertise of the surgeon. This study aimed to assess the magnitude of post-thyroidectomy complications and associated factors.

Methods

A retrospective review of the medical records of 262 patients was conducted, and the data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 25. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to assess the association between the risk factors and post-thyroidectomy complications. Statistical significance was set at P < 0.05.

Results

The majority of the patients (234, 89.4%) were females, and 56.4% were aged between 20 and 40 years. Seventy-seven (29.4%) patients had complication at first follow-up visit, and 54 (20.6%) had permanent complications at the 6-month follow-up. The most frequent complications at the first visit were hypothyroidism (9.9%), symptomatic hypocalcemia (9.5%), and voice hoarseness (5.7%). At the 6-month follow-up, 14.5%, 6.1%, and 2.7% of patients had hypothyroidism, hypocalcemia, and hoarseness of voice, respectively. Subtotal thyroidectomy was significantly associated with post-thyroidectomy complications (P < 0.01).

Conclusion

The prevalence of post-thyroidectomy complications at the SPHMMC was higher than the acceptable rates across guidelines. The complication rate at SPHMMC on first postoperative follow-up and 6-month follow-up visits was higher than that at the other centers. Subtotal thyroidectomy should be avoided or the last option to be considered because it is significantly associated with post-thyroidectomy complications.

Keywords:

• thyroidectomy
• complications
• hypothyroidism
• hypocalcemia
• recurrent laryngeal nerve injury

Acknowledgment

We acknowledge the data collectors, OR staff, medical record room, and support staff for their assistance during data collection.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.