Relationship between age and outcome in thyroid surgery: a prospective observational study.

Area of Science:

• Endocrinology
• Surgical Oncology
• Geriatric Medicine

Background:

• Thyroid nodules and goiter prevalence increase with age.
• Age is a known predictor of perioperative morbidity in surgery.
• Data on age's specific impact on thyroid surgery morbidity varies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the influence of patient age on outcomes following thyroid surgery.
• To analyze the relationship between age, surgery duration, resected tissue weight, and complications.
• To assess the impact of thyroid surgery on quality of life (QoL) in relation to age.

Main Methods:

• A prospective single cohort study involving 152 patients undergoing total or hemithyroidectomy for benign goiters.
• Primary endpoint: surgery duration. Secondary endpoints: resected tissue weight, BMI, complications (perioperative and long-term), and QoL (preoperative and 1-year postoperative).

Main Results:

• A significant three-way interaction was found between age, surgery duration, and resected tissue weight.
• Perioperative complications correlated with the size of the resected tissue.
• Quality of life significantly improved by up to 10% post-surgery, but decreased with age.

Conclusions:

• Perioperative complications in thyroid surgery are associated with increasing patient age and longer surgery duration.
• While surgical indications are becoming more restrictive, this may lead to older patients with larger goiters undergoing surgery, increasing morbidity.
• Elective early thyroid surgery is recommended for symptomatic goiters to improve postoperative QoL and minimize stress in elderly patients.