Prospective study of clinical and laboratorial hypocalcemia after thyroid surgery

Hypocalcemia can be detected clinically and through lab tests after thyroidectomy. AIM: To analyze the incidence and risk factors of clinical and laboratorial hypocalcemia after thyroid surgery. METHODS: Prospective study of 91 patients undergoing thyroidectomy. Demographics, intraoperative, and pathological aspects were correlated to our hypocalcemia findings. RESULTS: Age higher than 50 (p = 0.022) and complete thyroidectomy (p < 0.001) were considered risk factors for hypoparathyroidism. Complete thyroidectomy was considered a risk factor for the 48-hour laboratorial hypoparathyroidism (p = 0.004). There was no risk factor associated with the one-month laboratorial hypoparathyroidism. There was significance between the 48-hour and the one-month laboratorial hypoparathyroidism. CONCLUSIONS: Thyroidectomy extension is a risk factor for both the clinical and laboratorial hypoparathyroidism, whereas age is a risk factor for clinical hypoparathyroidism. The detection of 48-hour laboratorial hypoparathyroidism is a predisposing factor for the one-month laboratorial hypoparathyroidism. However, most of the cases were temporary.