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Updated: Oct 11, 2025
Transoral Robotic Total Thyroidectomy and Bilateral Central Regional Lymph Node Dissection for Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma
Published on: September 15, 2023
Post-thyroidectomy complications in southwestern Saudi Arabia: a retrospective study of a 6-year period
Dauda Bawa1, Amal Alghamdi1, Hanan Albishi1
1From the Department of Surgery, King Abdullah Hospital, Bisha, Asir, Saudi Arabia.
Background:
Thyroidectomy is the surgical removal of all or part of the thyroid gland for non-neoplastic and neoplastic thyroid diseases. Major postoperative complications of thyroidectomy, including recurrent laryngeal nerve injury, hypocalcemia, and hypothyroidism, are not infrequent.
Objective:
Summarize the frequency of surgical complications of thyroidectomy.
Design:
Retrospective.
Setting:
Secondary health facility in southwestern Saudi Arabia.
Patients And Methods:
We collected data from the records of patients who were managed for thyroid diseases between December 2013 and December 2019.
Main Outcome Measure:
Complications following thyroidectomy.
Sample Size:
339 patients, 280 (82.6%) females and 59 (17.4%) males.
Results:
We found 311 (91.7%) benign and 28 (8.3%) malignant thyroid disorders. Definitive management included 129 (38.1%) total thyroidectomies, 70 (20.6%) hemithyroidectomies, 10 (2.9%) subtotal thyroidectomies and 5 (1.5%) near-total thyroidectomies with 125 (36.9%) patients treated non-surgically. The overall complication rate was 11.3%. There were 4 (1.9%) patients with recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy, 16 (7.5%) patients with temporary hypoparathyroidism, 1 (0.5%) patient with paralysis of the external branch of the superior laryngeal nerve and 3 (1.4%) patients with wound hematoma.
Conclusion:
The rate of complications following thyroidectomy is still high. There is a need for emphasis on comprehensive measures to control the high rate of complications.
Limitations:
Retrospective design and no long-term follow up to monitor late complications.
Conflict Of Interest:
None.
