title: Total thyroidectomy for multinodular goiter in the elderly.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Total thyroidectomy for multinodular goiter (MNG) is increasingly being performed for the elderly population and yet their perioperative and long-term outcomes remain unclear.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 279 patients who underwent total thyroidectomy for MNG in a university-based hospital during a 9-year period were analyzed according to their age at the time of operation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The duration of operation (P=.023), intraoperative blood loss (P=.030), weight of resected thyroid glands (P<.001) and proportion of retrosternal goiter (P<.001) were significantly greater in the elderly group (>/=70 years) (n = 55), but the incidence of surgically related complications, including recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy and hypoparathyroidism, was similar. Postoperative pneumonia occurred more frequently in the elderly group (P=.034). The number of comorbidities tended to correlate with the length of hospital stay and long-term survival in elderly patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Total thyroidectomy for MNG in elderly patients had a similar perioperative outcome as their younger counterparts, but their long-term outcome is likely to be influenced by the number of comorbidities.
authors.affiliation: Division of Endocrine Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Hong Kong Medical Centre, Queen Mary Hospital, 102 Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong SAR, China.
authors.forename: Brian Hung-Hin
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Lang
authors.forename: Chung-Yau
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Lo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006044:Goiter, Nodular / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D006723:Hong Kong / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D015996:Survival Rate; D013965:Thyroidectomy; D016896:Treatment Outcome