Clinical surgery Total thyroidectomy for multinodular goiter in the elderly

Background: Total thyroidectomy for multinodular goiter (MNG) is increasingly being performed for the elderly population and yet their perioperative and long-term outcomes remain unclear. Methods: A total of 279 patients who underwent total thyroidectomy for MNG in a university-based hospital during a 9-year period were analyzed according to their age at the time of operation. Results: The duration of operation (P .023), intraoperative blood loss (P .030), weight of resected thyroid glands (P .001) and proportion of retrosternal goiter (P .001) were significantly greater in the elderly group (70 years) (n 55), but the incidence of surgically related complications, including recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy and hypoparathyroidism, was similar. Postoperative pneumonia occurred more frequently in the elderly group (P .034). The number of comorbidities tended to correlate with the length of hospital stay and long-term survival in elderly patients. Conclusions: Total thyroidectomy for MNG in elderly patients had a similar perioperative outcome as their younger counterparts, but their long-term outcome is likely to be influenced by the number of comorbidities. © 2005 Excerpta Medica Inc. All rights reserved.