title: Early and late complications after thyroid operations.
abstract: The cases of 387 patients who had 407 operations for thyroid disease between 1958 and 1982 at a university-affiliated city-county hospital were evaluated to assess the morbidity and mortality associated with thyroid operation. A mortality of 0.7% was found, owing to coexisting systemic disease, advanced patient age, and delayed treatment. Recurrent laryngeal nerve damage was rare (0.6%). Permanent hypoparathyroidism appeared in 0.9%, probably related to disrupted blood supply rather than tissue removal. Of those patients who had subtotal thyroidectomy and follow-up of six years or more, 15.8% had hypothyroidism, a rate substantially lower than that following radioactive iodine ablation for Graves' disease. This study indicates that operative procedures on the thyroid can be done with acceptable morbidity and mortality.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007011:Hypoparathyroidism / Q000209:etiology; D007037:Hypothyroidism / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D010280:Parathyroid Glands / Q000601:surgery; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D012009:Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve / Q000473:pathology; D013530:Surgical Wound Infection / Q000209:etiology; D013959:Thyroid Diseases / Q000601:surgery; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000098:blood supply; D013965:Thyroidectomy / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000401:mortality; D013997:Time Factors