Objective To evaluate the impact of total thyroidectomy on health-related quality of life （HRQOL） in patients with nodular goiter. Methods The patients who underwent total thyroidectomy from Jan. 2009 to Dec. 2011 in our hospital were retrospectively analyzed with regard to the quality of life （total thyroidectomy group）. The patients with similar demographic features who underwent hemithyroidectomy during the same period were matched as control （hemi-thyroidectomy group）. The validated HRQOL instrument， which was the Euro quality of life-5D （EQ-5D）， was applied to measure the HRQOL. Comparison of HRQOL in patients of 2 groups was performed， meanwhile， the data of total thyroidectomy group was compared with data of normal population who were obtained from The Forth National Health Survey. Results There were 26 and 28 valid questionnaires returned for the total thyroidectomy group and hemithyroi-dectomy group respectively. The demographic features of patients in 2 groups were comparable. No significant variancecould be found between the 2 groups that there were no significant differences on the mobility， self-care， usual activities，pain/discomfort， anxiety/depression， and visual analogous scales （P＞0.05）. Furthermore， no significant differences in HRQOL were found in EQ-5D questionnaire compared with normal population derived from The Forth National Health Survey （P＞0.05）， except that there were more patients complained of moderate and severe pain/discomfort in the total thyroidectomy group 〔30.8% （8/26） vs.9.2% （16 330/177 501）， P＜0.01〕. Conclusion Total thyroidectomy appears to have little impact on the quality of life in the patients with nodular goiter.
Objective To investigate the indications and prevention of complications of total thyroidectomy in the management of thyroid diseases. Methods Eighty five patients who received total thyroidectomy between Jan. 2009 and Dec. 2011 were retrospectively analyzed with regard to the surgical procedures and postoperative complications. There were 46 thyroid cancers， 38 nodular goiters， and 1 Hashimoto thyroiditis. Results The postoperative pathological exam-inations revealed that 9 （19.6%） of 46 thyroid cancers were bilateral， and all of nodular goiters were also bilateral multiple nodule. Bilateral recurrent laryngeal nerves were exposed in all of the patients in which 4 recurrent laryngeal nerves were invaded by cancer and 1 was sacrificed. There were 5 patients whose parathyroids were not identified and protected during the operation. Two patients developed postoperative bleeding and needed reoperation， 6 patients developed hoarseness of whom 5 patients recovered except for the one whose nerve was sacrificed. And in terms of hypoparathyroidism， 33 （38.8%） patients developed transient hypocalcemia related symptoms. The permanent hypoparathyroidism occurred only in 2 patients. Conclusions Total thyroidectomy is a safe procedure in the management of thyroid cancer and bilateral nodular goiter. Exposing the recurrent laryngeal nerve and parathyroid is an effective method to prevent major complica-tions. Invasion of recurrent laryngeal nerve by thyroid cancer might not lead to hoarseness.
Objective To evaluate if performing thyroidectomy through small incision has any notable aesthetic impact on patients compared with larger incision. Methods Thirty consecutive patients underwent thyroidectomy were enrolled from March 2008 to June 2008 in this prospective randomized pilot study. The incision length was 6 cm in the small incision group and 9 cm in the larger incision group. After 3 years follow-up，the scar aesthetics were evaluated by patients and surgeons using the Patient and Observer Scar Assessment Scale （POSAS），Vancouver Scar Scale （VSS），respectively. Digital photographs about scars were taken and assessed by non-research related viewers. Results There were 13 cases who received scar aesthetic assessment in both groups. The demographic characteristics of both groups were comparative. The overall patients’ satisfactions for the small incision group and the larger incision group were （2.5±1.9） scores and （2.2±1.5）scores， respectively （P=0.55）. There were no significant differences in scar assessment scale score as for other scar assessment scales （including VSS score，PSAS score，and OSAS score） between the two groups. The evaluation of digital photographs about scars by non-research related viewers was no significant difference （P＞0.05）. Conclusion Larger cervical scar in thyroidectomy does not decrease patients’ satisfaction with their scar results.
Objective To investigate the threshold value for postoperative parathyroid hormone （PTH） that can predict the development of symptomatic hypocalcemia. Methods The patients received total thyroidectomy and all the operations performed by the same team from June 2010 to December 2011 in the thyroid and breast group of department of general surgery，Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University were enrolled in this prospective study. Serum PTH and calcium were tested at 1-hour postoperatively and thereafter every day during hospitalization. Symptoms of hypocalcemia were recorded. Receiver operator characteristic curve was plotted to test the value of PTH assay to predict symptomatic hypocalcemia. Results There were 45 consecutive patients recruited in this prospective study，9 （20.0%） patients remained normocalcemic and 36 （80.0%） patients developed hypocalcemia postoperatively. There were 19 （42.2%） patients who developed symptoms associated with hypocalcemia and needed calcium supplement. The postoperative PTHs for normocalcemic （n=9），asymptomatic （n=17），and symptomatic （n=19） hypocalcemia patients groups were （40.5±23.7） ng/L，（18.3±9.1） ng/L，and （7.6±4.2） ng/L，respectively （P＜0.001）. The PTH value less than 13.4 ng/L could easily predict who were at high risk to develop symptomatic hypocalcemia with sensitivity of 94.7% and specificity of 76.9%. Conclusions This study suggests that a 1-hour postoperative PTH level at 13.4 ng/L can identify those individuals at risk for developing symptomatic hypocalcemia. Therefore，we recommend early calcium supplementation for these patients to decrease their postoperative morbidity from symptomatic hypocalcemia.