Abstract
Hypothesis: The complication rate for thyroidectomy is the same in patients with and without a history of radiation exposure. Design: Retrospective medical record review of 171 consecutive patients who had a previous history of radiation treatment and had undergone a thyroid operation from 1961 to 1999. Setting: University of California, San Francisco, Medical Center and affiliated hospitals. Patients: We selected 107 patients with a history of radiation exposure who had undergone thyroid operations (81 total thyroidectomies) and 107 control patients who underwent comparable operations but had no history of radiation exposure. Results: Among patients with a history of radiation exposure (mean age, 47.2 years), there was 1 recurrent nerve injury, 1 external nerve injury, 20 patients with transient hypocalcemia, and 1 patient with a hematoma. Among patients without a history of radiation exposure (mean age, 47.5 years), there were 2 recurrent nerve injuries, 18 patients with transient hypocalcemia, and 1 patient with a hematoma. All cases of hypocalcemia and recurrent nerve injury in both groups were transient. One patient had a permanent superior laryngeal nerve injury. In patients who underwent operations since January 1, 1990, duration of hospitalization was 1.2 days in patients with a history of radiation exposure (65 patients) and 1.1 days in patients without (101 patients). Conclusions: Our data document that the risk of transient and permanent complications after total thyroidectomy is similar in patients with and without a history of radiation exposure. The relatively low long-term complication rate supports prophylactic total thyroidectomy for patients with thyroid nodules and a history of radiation exposure.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1185-1188 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Archives of Surgery |
Volume | 139 |
Issue number | 11 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Nov 2004 |
Externally published | Yes |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Surgery