Post-thyroidectomy hemorrhage: a national study of patients treated at the Danish departments of ENT Head and Neck Surgery.
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.
Godballe
Christian
C
Department of ENT Head and Neck Surgery, Odense University Hospital, 5000 Odense C, Denmark. godballe@dsa-net.dk
Madsen
Anders Rørbaek
AR
Pedersen
Henrik Baymler
HB
Sørensen
Christian Hjort
CH
Pedersen
Ulrik
U
Frisch
Thomas
T
Helweg-Larsen
Jens
J
Barfoed
Lisa
L
Illum
Peter
P
Mønsted
Jonas Elmose
JE
Becker
Birgit
B
Nielsen
Troels
T
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