Blood transfusion, antibiotics use, and surgery outcome in thyroid surgery: experience from a suburban center in Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Edo North, which is a known goiter belt in Nigeria, is within the catchment area of this hospital. Although thyroid disease is prevalent in the communities, the fear and cost of surgery have been limiting factors for sufferers who should otherwise seek expert care.

AIM: To review all thyroid surgeries at Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, to determine pathological diagnosis of goiters, and to evaluate the outcome and necessity or otherwise of antibiotic therapy and routine cross-matching of blood.

RESULTS: There were 80 patients in the study, with 75 (93.75%) females and 5 (6.25%) males, giving female-to-male ratio of 15:1. People in the 4 th and 5 th decade of life constituted a dominant 32.5% and 26.7%, respectively, while the 1 st and 2 nd decades combined constituted only 7.5% of the study population. Two patients (2.5%) had blood transfusion while a similar number had wound infection.

CONCLUSION: Thyroidectomy is a safe surgery with minimal risk of complications. Grouping and cross-matching of blood in elective thyroidectomy is not an essential pre-operative preparation for all patients just as antibiotic therapy/prophylaxis made no difference in patient outcome. Simple multinodular goiter is the commonest histological diagnosis.