Prospective study of perioperative factors predicting hypocalcemia after thyroid and parathyroid surgery.

OBJECTIVE: To identify whether perioperative 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D or parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels will predict the development of hypocalcemia after thyroid and parathyroid surgery.

DESIGN: Prospective study.

SETTING: University hospital.

PATIENTS: The study included 103 patients who underwent thyroid or parathyroid surgery between 2002 and 2004, with a comparison of the patients who underwent thyroid lobectomy (TL; n = 34), total thyroidectomy (TT; n = 27), parathyroid adenoma excision (PAE; n = 34), and subtotal parathyroidectomy for hyperplasia (SP; n = 8).

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Preoperative 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D levels, number of patients requiring calcium replacement, and postoperative PTH and calcium levels.

RESULTS: No patients in the TL or PAE group developed postoperative hypocalcemia that required calcium replacement. Six patients (22%) in the TT group and 3 patients (38%) in the SP group required calcium replacement for clinically significant hypocalcemia (P<.001). All patients who required calcium replacement had PTH levels of less than 15 pg/mL (1.6 pmol/L) 8 hours after surgery. Among the patients with postoperative PTH levels of less than 15 pg/mL (1.6 pmol/L) 8 hours after surgery, no patients in the PAE group required calcium replacement, compared with 75% of patients in the TT and SP groups (P<.001). The patients in the TT group had significantly lower postoperative calcium levels than those in the TL (P<.001) or the PAE (P<.005) group. The patients in the TL group reached stable calcium levels significantly earlier than those in the other groups (15.8 hours after surgery; P<.05). There was no relationship between preoperative 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D levels and postoperative calcium levels.

CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D levels were not predictive of postoperative calcium levels. Patients who undergo PAE or TL are at extremely low risk for requiring calcium replacement. Patients who undergo TT or SP with 8-hour postoperative PTH levels greater than or equal to 15 pg/mL (1.6 pmol/L) are at low risk for developing postoperative hypocalcemia, whereas those with PTH levels less than 15 pg/mL (1.6 pmol/L) have a high risk of developing hypocalcemia.