Bilateral ligation of inferior thyroid arteries trunks in total thyroidectomy operation and its effect on postoperative serum calcium: A prospective double blind randomized study

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Department of Surgery, Misr University for Science and Technology Hospital, Cairo, Egypt

Abstract

Hypocalcemia is the most common complication following total thyroidectomy. The mechanism of this common complication is multi-factorial but whether ligating the trunk of the inferior thyroid artery plays a role or not is not fully understood. This study involves 50 consecutive patients scheduled for total thyroidectomy. Those patients were randomized into two groups, group “A” where the inferior thyroid artery trunk was ligated while in group “B” it was not. Serum calcium was measured preoperatively, on the night of the operation, in the first postoperative day and 30 days after the operation. No significant difference between the two groups was found regarding serum calcium level whether in the immediate postoperative period or after 30 days of the operation. In conclusion, ligation of the trunk of the inferior thyroid artery during total thyroidectomy operation does not interfere with serum calcium level.
 

Keywords

Ain Shams Journal of Surgery
Volume 3, Issue 2
July 2010
Pages 131-134

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics