The Impact of Vitamin D Deficiency on Hypocalcaemia Following Total Thyroidectomy

Plain-language summary

Post-operative hypocalcaemia following total thyroidectomy is a well-known complication and becoming a major area of research. Many factors are assumed to increase the incidence of post-thyroidectomy hypocalcaemia, but the impact of vitamin D deficiency remains uncertain. Since results so far were inconclusive, the goal in this study is to significantly determine the relation between those two factors. This study is the first to deal with this issue through patients who underwent total thyroidectomy that was performed by the same surgeon and the same surgical technique. A retrospective evaluation study of patients who underwent total thyroidectomy at the head and neck unit of the Otorhinolaryngology department at our institution between January 2013 and October 2016. A total number of 60 patients underwent total thyroidectomy with available vitamin D levels before surgery, as well as pre and post-operative PTH and calcium levels. Pre-operative vitamin D and PTH levels were checked within a maximum of one month duration before surgery. All patients were operated by the same surgeon -Dr. Galit Avior-, with the same surgical technique. The study involves access to the patients files and admission reports. In addition the investigators would like to be able to call the patients in order to ask them whether Vitamin D deficiency was corrected or not before their surgery, and If it was corrected then when exactly.

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