Thyroid surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic: results from a systematic review

PURPOSE: During the COVID-19 pandemic, elective thyroid surgery is experiencing delays. The problem is that the COVID-19 pandemic is ongoing. The research purposes were to systematically collect the literature data on the characteristics of those thyroid operations performed and to assess the safety/risks associated with thyroid surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: We used all the procedures consistent with the PRISMA guidelines. A comprehensive literature in MEDLINE (PubMed) and Scopus was made using ‘‘Thyroid’’ and “coronavirus” as search terms. RESULTS: Of a total of 293 articles identified, 9 studies met the inclusion criteria. The total number of patients undergoing thyroid surgery was 2217. The indication for surgery was malignancy in 1347 cases (60.8%). Screening protocols varied depending on hospital protocol and maximum levels of personal protection equipment were adopted. The hospital length of stay was 2–3 days. Total thyroidectomy was chosen for 1557 patients (1557/1868, 83.4%), of which 596 procedures (596/1558, 38.3%) were combined with lymph node dissections. Cross-infections were registered in 14 cases (14/721, 1.9%), of which three (3/721, 0.4%) with severe pulmonary complications of COVID-19. 377 patients (377/1868, 20.2%) had complications after surgery, of which 285 (285/377, 75.6%) hypoparathyroidism and 71 (71/377, 18.8%) recurrent laryngeal nerve injury. CONCLUSION: The risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission after thyroid surgery is relatively low. Our study could promote the restart of planned thyroid surgery due to COVID-19. Future studies are warranted to obtain more solid data about the risk of complications after thyroid surgery during the COVID-19 era. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40618-021-01641-1.