Prospective study of clinical and laboratorial hypocalcemia after thyroid surgery.

UNLABELLED: Hypocalcemia can be detected clinically and through lab tests after thyroidectomy.

AIM: To analyze the incidence and risk factors of clinical and laboratorial hypocalcemia after thyroid surgery.

METHODS

Prospective study of 91 patients undergoing thyroidectomy. Demographics, intraoperative, and pathological aspects were correlated to our hypocalcemia findings.

RESULTS

Age higher than 50 (p = 0.022) and complete thyroidectomy (p < 0.001) were considered risk factors for hypoparathyroidism. Complete thyroidectomy was considered a risk factor for the 48-hour laboratorial hypoparathyroidism (p = 0.004). There was no risk factor associated with the one-month laboratorial hypoparathyroidism. There was significance between the 48-hour and the one-month laboratorial hypoparathyroidism.

CONCLUSIONS

Thyroidectomy extension is a risk factor for both the clinical and laboratorial hypoparathyroidism, whereas age is a risk factor for clinical hypoparathyroidism. The detection of 48-hour laboratorial hypoparathyroidism is a predisposing factor for the one-month laboratorial hypoparathyroidism. However, most of the cases were temporary.