Short-stay sutureless total thyroidectomy

Background and objective: Thyroid surgery has traditionally been done on an inpatient basis. With the advent of minimal access techniques. This study aimed to assess the outcome of short-stay total thyroidectomy in comparison with a longer stay in terms of postoperative complications. Methods: This was an observational comparative study which was carried out at the surgical units of Erbil of Rizgary Teaching Hospital and private hospitals in Erbil city. The data were collected in the period between January 2017 and March 2021. Data of 192 patients’ records who underwent thyroidectomy were collected. Results: In this study, 33 (17.1%) patients were males while 159 (82.8%) were females. Out of 192 patients, 137 underwent sutureless technique while 55 of them underwent sutured way of hemostasis. Majority of patients 173 (90.1%) were discharged before 23 hours, while 19 (9.9%) were discharged after 23 hours. Significantly, higher percentage of males (24.2%) stayed more than 23 hours in the hospital compared with 6.9% of females (P = 0.006). The majority of indications with goiter, Graves’ disease, toxic nodule and solitary stayed between 12-23 hours while half of those with cancer stayed more than 23 hours (P = 0.023). Conclusion: Short-stay thyroid surgery is a feasible and safe procedure when combined with sutureless technique: this returns to overall less postoperative complications; day-case and short-stay procedures account for an expanding area of modern-day surgery.