Predictors of Hypocalcaemia Following Thyroidectomy

Gurushantappa Yalagachin and Nishanth Lakshmikantha

Department of Surgery, KIMS, Hubli, India

^*Correspondance to: Gurushantappa Yalagachin 

 PDF  Full Text DOI: 10.25107/2474-1647.1648

Abstract

Background &
Objectives: Hypocalcaemia is a common complication following thyroid surgery, which is multifactorial. The aim of this study was to identify risk factors for development of postoperative hypocalcaemia in cases of total thyroidectomy, near total thyroidectomy, and completion thyroidectomy with or without neck dissection.Methods: From 1st November 2014 to 31st December 2016, 30 consecutive patients undergoing total thyroidectomy, near-total, and sub-total or completion thyroidectomy at Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences Hospital were enrolled in this prospective study, longitudinal, cohort study. The primary endpoints were the occurrence of postoperative hypocalcaemia as by defined as a nadir corrected serum calcium 8.0 mg/dL or symptomatic hypocalcaemia.Results: The 30 patients were analyzed. The average age was 42.53±15.86 years with 86.7% female. The most common indications for surgery were benign thyroid disease (80%). 18 patients (60%) experienced postoperative hypocalcaemia with 10 (33.3%) requiring intravenous calcium infusion. Risk factors for postoperative hypocalcaemia included inadvertent parathyroid removal during surgery further exemplified by the fact that there is lesser incidence of post-operative hypocalcaemia in patients undergoing near total thyroidectomy.

Keywords

Cite the article

Yalagachin G, Lakshmikantha N. Predictors of Hypocalcaemia Following Thyroidectomy. Clin Surg. 2017; 2: 1648.