[Complications of thyroid surgery. Report of 683 thyroidectomies]

Most important complications of thyroid gland surgery are recurrent paralysis (which usually results from section, stretching or devascularization of this neural branch) and parathyroid lesions resulting from unnoticed removal of more than two of these glands or through necrosis because deficient blood supply. We present a study about the complications of thyroid surgery based on the thyroid surgery done in our ENT Service during 1979-1998 term. An amount of 683 cases make the series. The 86% were female and 14% male, with a mean age of 40-50. Surgical techniques realized were: hemithyroidectomy (15.3%) and isthmectomy (2.9%). About 7.4% of patients were reoperated. Stated complications were: local (serohematoma 4.1%, infection 1.2%, postoperative hemorrhage 1.2%) and recurrent paralysis (unilateral transitory 2.6% and unilateral definitive 1.6%; there wasn't any case of bilateral palsy) and superior laryngeal nerve paralysis (1.4% as well as hypoparathyroidism (transitory 22.7% and definitive 5.3%). These complications were most frequent in reoperated cases and in total and subtotal thyroidectomies. In most of these series the incidence of recurrent palsy range between 1.5% and increases more than 9.5% in surgical check and the hypoparathyroidism incidence ranges over 25%.