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Updated: Jul 21, 2025
Establishment of a Simple and Effective Rat Model for Intraoperative Parathyroid Gland Imaging
Published on: August 17, 2022
The Obesity Paradox in Thyroid Surgery: Is Higher BMI Protective Against Hypoparathyroidism?
Tyler Fields1, Kimberly Ramonell2, Jessica Fazendin3
1Department of Surgery, Wellstar Atlanta Medical Center, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Background:
With a demonstrated association between adiposity and parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels, we hypothesized that patients with a higher body mass index (BMI) would have lower rates of postoperative hypoparathyroidism following total thyroidectomy.
Methods:
retrospective review of patients undergoing total thyroidectomy from 2015 to 2021. Demographics, BMI, surgical indications, and laboratory data including pre- and postoperative PTH values were examined.
Results:
Of the 352 patients with complete clinicopathologic data, most were female (n = 272, 77.3%) with an average age of 42.7 (SD+/-19.4). Obese (BMI 30-39.99) was most common BMI group (n = 108, 30.8%), with 11.7% (n = 41) morbidly obese (BMI > 40). Morbidly obese patients had significantly higher postoperative PTH levels than BMI < 18.5 (46.0 vs 19.3 pg/mL, P = .004). Patient race was significantly associated with pre- and postoperative PTH (P = .03, P = .004.) On multivariable analysis, preoperative PTH, race, and BMI were independent predictors of higher postoperative PTH (P < .05 for all).
Discussion:
Patients with higher BMI and non-white race have relative protection from postoperative hypoparathyroidism.
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