The morbidity of total thyroidectomy
E. F. Scanlon, J. E. Kellogg, D. P. Winchester and R. H. Larson
Of 245 total thyroidectomies done over a ten-year period, most were in
patients who had previously received irradiation about the head and neck
for benign conditions in infancy and childhood. There was no operative
mortality, and only one patient had postoperative bleeding requiring
reoperation. Of six patients with paralyzed recurrent laryngeal nerves in
the immediate postoperative period, vocal cord function returned in all but
one over one year. Forty-nine patients required at least one dose of
calcium postoperatively, and 41 were taking calcium when discharged from
the hospital. After one year, only two patients took calcium regularly; in
both, lymph nodes were removed from both paratracheal grooves. In
evaluating comparative statistics, increased morbidity of total
thyroidectomy needs to be considered on a long-term basis rather than in
the immediate postoperative period.
