Abstract:
Background: Thyroidectomy is a surgical removal of whole or part of the thyroid gland. This can result in complications including recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy, hypocalcemia, hypothyroidism, and hematoma collection. These complications are thought to be associated with factors like size of the goiter, toxicity status, malignant pathology, extent of surgery and underlying comorbidity.
Objective: the aim of this study was to assess the magnitude of post thyroidectomy complications and its associated factors among adult patients who underwent thyroidectomy at Ambo university referral hospital from April 2021 to March 2024
Methods and Materials: Facility based cross sectional study was conducted from August 1/2024 to September 30/2024. 305 (all patients) who underwent thyroidectomy from April 2021 to March 2024 were included. Secondary data was collected using kobo toolbox and data was imported to SPSS for analysis. Bivariable and multivariable logistic regression was employed to assess presence of any association. Odds ratio is used to measure degree of the association. P value less than 0.05 is considered significant.
Results: Overall magnitude of post thyroidectomy complication was 21.8%, (95% CI: 17.2–26.6%), of which 12.3% (95% CI: 8.5–16.0%) were persistent complications. According to this study, age (46–59 years) (AOR = 2.99, 95% CI: 1.20–7.4, p = 0.018), rural residence (AOR = 0.316, 95% CI: 0.146–0.690, p = 0.004), Benign disease (AOR = 0.38, 95% CI: 0.129–1.127, p = 0.048), near-total thyroidectomy (AOR = 6.89, 95% CI: 1.26–11.24, p = 0.001), total thyroidectomy (AOR = 21.34, 95% CI: 6.04-75.47, p < 0.001), were independent factors associated with post thyroidectomy complication. Hospital stay greater than 3 days is also associated with (AOR = 5.16, 95% CI: 2.76 - 9.64, p < 0.001) post thyroidectomy complication.
Conclusion and recommendation: The overall post thyroidectomy complication in this setup is in acceptable range. Age (45–59 years), urban residence, malignant histology and type of thyroidectomy (Near total and total) were identified to be associated with increased complication. Prolonged hospital stay (> 3 days) is observed among patients with complications. The findings of this study emphasize the need for careful preoperative patient assessment, cautious selection of type of thyroidectomy procedure and post-operative monitoring to minimize complications.
