Analysis of complications of surgical treatment of patients with autoimmune thyroiditis

Aim — to study the frequency and structure of specific complications in surgeries for autoimmune thyroiditis AIT associated with benign nodules in comparison with operations for multinodular non-toxic goiter. Materials and methods. The analysis of complications of thyroidectomy was performed for 237 patients operated for AIT (main group) and 261 for multinodular non-toxic goiter (control group). The evaluation was done to assess thesurgeryduration, the frequency of laryngeal paresis, postoperative hypoparathyroidism, thoracic duct damage, intense neck hematomas, dysphagia and changes in voice tone. Results. More complications were found in patients of the main group — 33 against 20 in the control group. The structure and number of individual complications from their total number in both groups was the same, and the frequency of the number of operated patients was significantly higher in the group of patients with AIT. The duration of thyroidectomy in AIT was (174.3 ± 4.2) min and depended on the severity of inflammatory changes in the gland and tissues around it, and in cases of multinodular non-toxic goiter — (127.0 ± 4.7) min (p < 0.01). Conclusions. Thyroidectomy for AIT compared to multinodular non-toxic goiter is accompanied by a greater number of complications and duration of surgery. There is an increased risk of developing hypoparathyroidism, laryngeal paresis, thoracic duct injuries, severe neck hematomas, dysphagia and changes in voice tone.