title: Should the thyroid bed be drained after thyroidectomy?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although routine drainage of the thyroidectomy bed is not an evidenced-based practice, most surgeons still employ routine drainage with an effort to monitor postoperative bleeding. The aim of this study is present our experience on draining and not draining the thyroidectomy bed.
  
  
  METHODS
  Records of 1,066 patients who underwent thyroid surgery were evaluated retrospectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The rates of the re-operations due to life-threatening postoperative hemorrhage and wound infections were higher in the drained group. The average postoperative hospital stay of the drained group was significantly longer than that of the non-drained group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Routine drainage of the thyroidectomy bed is not effective in decreasing the rate of postoperative complications after thyroid surgery, and it causes a prolonged hospital stay and surgical site infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Ataturk Egitim ve Arastirma Hospital, Bilkent, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Nuraydin
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ozlem
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ozdogan
authors.forename: Ahmet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gurer
authors.forename: Ismail
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Gomceli
authors.forename: Raci
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Aydin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004322:Drainage / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011182:Postoperative Care / Q000379:methods*; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013965:Thyroidectomy; D016896:Treatment Outcome