Day surgery for total or completion thyroidectomy: The first report in Hong Kong

Aim Day surgery for thyroidectomy is uncommon in Hong Kong. Day hemithyroidectomy is rarely reported in the literature, whereas day total or completion thyroidectomy (TTCT) has not been discussed at all. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the experience of TTCT. Patients and Methods Using the computerized hospital system for operations performed, the details of patients who had been scheduled for TTCT between January 2015 and May 2018 were retrieved. Their hospital charts and operation records were retrospectively evaluated with respect to the indications of surgery, operation details, complications, conversion to inpatient admission and unplanned readmission. Results Forty‐two eligible patients (25 total and 17 completion thyroidectomies) were identified. Total thyroidectomies were all done under general anaesthesia, whereas 70.6 per cent of completion thyroidectomies were done under local anaesthesia. The overall conversion rate to inpatient admission was 19 per cent. After total thyroidectomy, one patient was unexpectedly readmitted. No patient suffered from symptomatic hypocalcaemia, neck haematoma or mortality. There was no statistical difference between the two groups (total vs completion thyroidectomy) in terms of inpatient conversion following operation, unplanned readmission or surgical complications. Conclusions TTCT thyroidectomy is feasible and safe in properly selected patients. However, mitigation measures against the relatively high inpatient admission rate are worthy of consideration.