2İstanbul Üniversitesi Cerrahpaşa Tıp Fakültesi Anesteziyoloji ve Reanimasyon Anabilim Dalı İSTANBUL Introduction: The purpose of this study is to confirm safety of total thyroidectomy and to investigate the effect of age on potential mortality and morbidity in geriatric patients.
Materials and Method: Data from patients older than 64 years who underwent total thyroidectomy in our clinic between January 2009 and May 2012 was collected prospectively and analyzed retrospectively. Patients were divided into two groups where Group 1 included patients between 65–74 years of age and Group 2 patients who were older than 74 years.
Results: One hundred and forty five patients over 64 years old underwent total thyroidectomy. In both groups, the main indication for surgery was multinodular goiter. The rate of thyroid malignity was 19.64% (n=22) and 28.57% (n=8) in Group 1 and Group 2 respectively. The duration of the operation was 39.82±16.12 minutes (range: 16-92 min) in Group 1 and 34.20±7.86 (range: 24-45 min) in Group 2. The rate of temporary and permanent vocal cord paralysis was 1.43% and 0.71% respectively for all patients in this study. Transient hypocalcaemia was observed in 2.68% (n=3) of the patients in Group 1, 7.14% (n=2) of those in Group 2, and 3.57% of all patients and there was no permanent hypocalcaemia.
Conclusion: Total thyroidectomy can be performed safely in patients older than 64 years in experienced centers.
Keywords : Thyroidectomy; Aged; Morbidity; Mortality