Degree of technical difficulty of thyroidectomy for autoimmune thyroid disease.

Abstract

Our goal was to elucidate the differences in degree of technical difficulty of thyroidectomy in patients with autoimmune thyroid diseases. Charts of adult patients who had undergone thyroidectomy were reviewed. Patients with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis (HT) or Graves' Disease (GD) were individually compared to a control group of patients with early stage malignancy or goiter. The HT (n = 65) group was significantly more likely to have friable (P = .001) and fibrotic (P < .001) thyroids, longer operative times (P = .02), and a 22-modifier (P = .005). The GD (n = 169) group was significantly more likely to have friable (P < .001), vascular (P < .001), fibrotic (P = .038), and heavy (P = .002) thyroids, longer operative times (P = .03), increased length of stay (P = .01) and a 22-modifier (P = .01). Our experience at an institution with a high-volume thyroid practice demonstrates that patients with autoimmune thyroid disease have consistent qualitative changes of the thyroid and significantly increased operative times and surgical difficulty.