Clinical audit of the presentation and outcome of benign thyroid disorders in a tertiary care setting in Pakistan

Objective: to assess the clinical presentation and outcome of surgical management of benign thyroid disorders in a tertiary care set up in pakistan. methods: the clinical audit was carried out at the department of surgery, pakistan institute of medical sciences (pims), islamabad, from september 2002 to december 2010. the data were recorded on a pre-designed proforma, which comprehensively encompassed the relevant variables and outcome measures. spss 10 was used for statistical analysis. results: out of 527 patients, there were 474(89.94%) females and 53(10.05%) males. the overall age ranged 21-56 years, with a mean of 41.99±9.07 years. symptoms due to local pressure effects of the goiter were the commonest presenting features found in 473(89.75%) patients. the mean duration of thyroid disorder was 11.85±3.41 years. hypothroidism was the commonest biochemical abnormality found in 117(22.20%) patients, while hyperthyroidism was found in 63 (11.95%) patients. multinodular goitre was the most frequent disorder found in 439(83.30%) patients. subtotal thyroidectomy constituted the commonest surgical procedure performed in 398(75.52%) patients. temporary hypocalcaemia was the most common post-operative complication observed in 93(17.64%) patients. the mean hospital stay was 4.76±2.14days. there was no in-hospital mortality. conclusion: benign thyroid disorders are prevalent in our population and commonly affect the younger females. majority of the patients have a family history of thyroid disorders. most of the patients present with several years history of the disease. subtotal thyroidectomy is the most frequently offered surgical procedure, which is safe.