COMPLETION THYROIDECTOMY FOR DIFFERENTIATED THYROID-CARCINOMA

Completion thyroidectomy is performed because of a deferred diagnosis of differentiated carcinoma of the thyroid or a significant thyroid re mnant after initial operation. During a period of 6 years, data from 4 0 patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma undergoing completion thyroidectomy were retrospectively reviewed. There were 4 men and 36 women (1:9), and the average age was 39.6 +/- 1.9 years (range, 20 to 62 years). The indications for the initial surgery were a solitary thy roid nodule in 36 (90%) patients, multinodular goiter in 3 (7.5%) pati ents, and Graves' disease in 1 (2.5%) patient. Three patients underwen t completion thyroidectomy during the same hospital stay. In the remai ning 37 patients, completion thyroidectomy was performed 4 to 252 days (44.1 +/- 7.8 days) after the initial operation. The length of hospit al stay for the initial operation was not different from that for comp letion thyroidectomy (5.1 +/- 0.3 days vs. 5.2 +/- 0.3 days). The leng th of time needed to accomplish the initial operation was not differen t from that required for the completion thyroidectomy (122 +/- 7.5 min utes vs, 110.8 +/- 5.9 minutes). There was no 30-day perioperative mor tality. The postoperative morbidity in completion thyroidectomy consis ted of transient hypoparathyroidism in 3 (7.5%) patients, permanent hy poparathyroidism in 1 (2.5%) patient, transient recurrent laryngeal ne rve palsy in 1 (2.5%) patient, and permanent recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy in 1 (2.5%) patient, On the other hand, one transient recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy and one transient hypoparathyroidism occurred a t the initial operation. Completion thyroidectomy is a safe procedure to remove the thyroid remnant.