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Is routine drainage after total thyroidectomy
necessary?
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| Article Type: | Letter to the editor |
| Subject: |
Thyroidectomy
(Physiological aspects) Drainage, Surgical (Physiological aspects) Drainage, Surgical (Management) |
| Author: | Sozen, Selim |
| Pub Date: | 11/01/2011 |
| Publication: | Name: South African Journal of Surgery Publisher: South African Medical Association Audience: Academic Format: Magazine/Journal Subject: Health Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2011 South African Medical Association ISSN: 0038-2361 |
| Issue: | Date: Nov, 2011 Source Volume: 49 Source Issue: 4 |
| Topic: | Event Code: 200 Management dynamics Computer Subject: Company business management |
| Geographic: | Geographic Scope: South Africa Geographic Code: 6SOUT South Africa |
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| Accession Number: | 280557387 |
| Full Text: |
To the Editor: Most surgeons follow the practice of leaving a drain
following thyroid surgery, in the hope that this will obliterate the
dead space and evacuate collected blood and serum. The main reason is to
drain off a possible post-operative haemorrhage that may compress air
passages and produce respiratory failure. Although haemorrhage after
thyroid surgery is rare, it may be life-threatening and require
immediate re-operation. (1,2) According to Karayacin et al., routine
drainage after thyroid surgery is not necessary, and a selective policy
can be safely applied. (3) A total of 100 patients who underwent total
thyroidectomy for benign thyroidal disorders were randomly allocated to
be drained or not. The drained group comprised 2 men and 48 women. The
non-drained group comprised 10 men and 40 women. There was no
significant difference in the gender, age, hormonal status and
histopathological results between the patients of the two groups
(p=0.18, p=0.36, p=0.28 and p=0.40, respectively). The complication rate
was similar between the two groups. One case of haematoma (2%), 2 cases
of seroma (4%) and 3 cases of transient hypoparathyroidism (6%) occurred
in the non drained group; 1 case of haematoma (2%), 2 cases of seroma
(4%), 2 cases of wound infection (4%) and 2 cases of transient
hypoparathyroidism (4%) occurred in the drained group (p=0.69). Routine
drainage of the thyroid bed following thyroid surgery may not be
necessary. Selim Sozen Elazig Training and Research Hospital Elazig Turkey (1.) Ardito G, Revelli L, Guidi ML, et al. Drainage in thyroid surgery. Ann Ital Chir 1999;70(4):511-516. (2.) Daou R. Thyroidectomy without drainage. Chirurgie 1997;122(7): 408-410. (3.) Karayacin K, Besim H, Ercan F, Hamamci O, Korkmaz A. Thyroidectomy with and without drains. East Afr Med J 1997;74(7):431-432. |
| Gale Copyright: | Copyright 2011 Gale, Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. |
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