Postoperative swallowing disorder after thyroid and parathyroid resection

Figures & data

Table 1 Questionnaire sent to 358 patients at least 6 months postoperatively

Which of the 5 answers is closest, please tick only one answer
□	a) After the removal of the thyroid, the swallowing process is improved overall / trouble-free, since no more items are troublesome.
□	b) I had swallowing difficulties immediately after the operation (about a week), which disappeared by themselves.
□	c) I had swallowing difficulties during the first weeks postoperatively (maximum 3 months after surgery), which disappeared without further treatment.
□	d) I had swallowing difficulties during the first weeks postoperatively (a maximum of 3 months after surgery), which required treatment by means of:__________________
□	e) I have long-lasting / still existing difficulty swallowing. (if you have ticked e), please fill in the following field)
		Never	Rare	Frequent	Always	Comment
	I must cough, and 1 have swallowing problems	□	□	□	□
	I feel discomfort swallowing	□	□	□	□
	I find it difficult to swallow meat/bread/tablets	□	□	□	□
	I had the sensation of a lump or tightness in my throat	□	□	□	□

Table 2 Demographic-, disease-, and treatment-related variables for the study cohort

		n=219
Age (median; range)	Years	58 (17–86)
Gender (n [%])	Female	160 (73.1%)
	Male	59 (26.9%)
BMI (median; range)	kg/m^2	26.1 (15.8–46.4)
Specimen volume (median; range)	cm^3	48.0 (0.1–2160)
Diagnosis (n [%])	Struma	152 (69.4%)
	Hyperparathyroidism	35 (16.0%)
	Malignancy	23 (10.5%)
	Graves’ disease	9 (4.1%)
Surgery (n [%])	Thyroidectomy with central	6 (2.7 %)
	and lateral neck dissection
	Thyroidectomy with central	12 (5.5 %)
	neck dissection
	Total thyroidectomy	71 (32.4 %)
	Dunhill operation	13 (5.9 %)
	Thyroid lobectomya	84 (38.4 %)
	Parathyroidectomy	33 (15.1 %)
Smokingb (n/[%])	Yes	24 (11.5 %)
	No	194 (88.5%)

Notes:

a Included two patients with parathyroidectomy.

b One patient failed to complete the smoking field.

Figure 1 Frequency and duration of postoperative dysphagia complaints

Abbreviation: TT, total thyroidectomy.

Figure 2 Frequency of dysphagia depending on the operative therapy.

Notes: The more invasive the operation was, the more patients suffered from dysphagia. Dysphagia occurred depending on the operative therapy between 6.1% for parathyroid resection and 33% for total thyroidectomy with lymph node dissection.

Figure 3 Frequency of dysphagia depending on diagnosis.

Notes: Patients with Graves’ disease and carcinomas showed a significantly higher risk and patients with hyperparathyroidism a significantly lower risk of dysphagia.