title: Post-thyroidectomy hemorrhage: a national study of patients treated at the Danish departments of ENT Head and Neck Surgery.
abstract: As bleeding in the neck region is a potentially life-threatening complication, we found it imperative to concretize the frequency and to identify possible reasons for this complication. A national database of all thyroid surgery performed inside the specialty of ENT Head and Neck Surgery (THYKIR) was established in January 2001. This nationwide cohort study represents 5,490 patients included until December 2007. Overall hemorrhage frequency was 4.2% with a wide variation among departments. Multiple regression analysis identified age, male gender, malignant histology and extent of surgery as independent risk factors for hemorrhage. Increased hospital stay and infection rates were found in patients treated with drainage. The median time for onset of postoperative hemorrhage was 3 h (range 0-105). Compared with international literature our incidence of post-thyroidectomy hemorrhage is relatively high. Improvement might be reached by the exchange of experience between departments with focus on adequate surgical technique and careful hemostasis.
authors.affiliation: Department of ENT Head and Neck Surgery, Odense University Hospital, 5000 Odense C, Denmark. godballe@dsa-net.dk
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Godballe
authors.forename: Anders Rørbaek
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Madsen
authors.forename: Henrik Baymler
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Pedersen
authors.forename: Christian Hjort
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Sørensen
authors.forename: Ulrik
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Pedersen
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Frisch
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Helweg-Larsen
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Barfoed
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Illum
authors.forename: Jonas Elmose
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Mønsted
authors.forename: Birgit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Becker
authors.forename: Troels
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nielsen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019106:Postoperative Hemorrhage / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013531:Surgicenters / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013959:Thyroid Diseases / Q000601:surgery*; D013965:Thyroidectomy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult