الفهرس 
INTRODUCTIONOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Thyroidectomy is one of the most commonly performed operations in general surgery. Following total thyroidectomy, patients are closely observed for bleeding in the first 24 hours The main discharge-limiting factor thereafter is the development of hypocalcemia as patients not at risk of hypocalcemia may be discharged on day 1 following surgery.
The present study aimed to assess a reliable, cost-effective predictor (delta Ca) (ΔCa = preoperative Ca - postoperative Ca) that can predict the likelihood of early post thyroidectomy hypocalcemia for early safe discharge.
The present study was conducted on 116 consecutive patients admitted for total or completion thyroidectomy at the Head, Neck and Endocrine Surgical Unit, Department of Surgery, Alexandria Main University Hospital. There were 100 females (86.2%) and 16 males (13.8%). Their ages ranged between 14 and 77 years with a mean of 44.9 years. All patients were subjected to thorough history-taking and complete clinical examination. Laboratory investigations (FT3, FT4, TSH, corrected serum Ca level, serum albumin level, and routine laboratory work up), followed by neck ultrasonography (US) were performed for all patients. Ultrasound guided FNAC from any suspicious thyroid lesion was performed.