Perioperative cardiac investigations for chest pain after parathyroidectomy rarely yield a cardiac diagnosis

BACKGROUND: The incidence of adverse perioperative cardiac complications after parathyroidectomy has not been well described. This study aimed to evaluate the incidence of perioperative chest pain and cardiac complications after parathyroidectomy and to evaluate risk factors that may identify patients who are more likely to benefit from a cardiac workup. METHODS: We performed a retrospective study of all patients undergoing parathyroidectomy for primary hyperparathyroidism by a single endocrine surgeon at a tertiary endocrine centre between 2011 and 2018. Patient demographics, clinicopathologic variables, operative and postoperative details (reported chest pain, performance of a cardiac workup and new postoperative cardiac diagnosis) were reviewed. Patients with chest pain were compared to those without chest pain using the Fisher exact test and Student t test. RESULTS: Fourteen of 295 patients (4.7%) reported chest pain in the immediate postoperative period. Most patients were investigated with a 12-lead electrocardiogram and troponin (n = 12/14), yet none were diagnosed with a cardiac event. When comparing patients with and without chest pain, there was no significant difference in age, gender, body mass index, presence of cardiovascular risk factors, American Society of Anesthesiologists score or length of surgery. CONCLUSION: Postoperative chest pain after parathyroidectomy is not an uncommon event and leads to a cardiac workup in most cases; however, the risk of significant postoperative cardiac events is minimal. In the “choosing wisely” era, one should evaluate each patient’s pretest probability of such events and avoid extensive workup in low-risk patients to avoid unnecessary costs to the health care system.