No Change in Complications Following Thyroidectomy Despite Increase in Thyroid Cancer Surgeries: A Meta-Regression Analysis

Abstract

Purpose: The increase in thyroid cancer incidence has inevitably led to an increase in thyroid cancer surgeries. This meta-regres-sion analysis aimed to determine if the rate of post-thyroidectomy complications changes by year. Materials and Methods: PubMed and Embase databases were used to perform a systematic literature search of studies published from January 1, 2005, using the keywords “thyroidectomy” and “complication.” A meta-regression was performed for post-thy-roidectomy hypocalcemia and bleeding. Results: This meta-analysis included 25 studies involving 927751 individuals. Through the years of publications in this study, there was no significant difference in the proportion of post-thyroidectomy hypocalcemia and bleeding (p=0.9978, 0.6393). Conclusion: Although the number of thyroid surgeries has recently increased, the incidence of post-thyroidectomy hypocalce-mia and bleeding did not significantly increase.