Thyroid surgery is safe for older patients, say physicians who found only slight differences in rates of complications and hospital readmissions in a multi-year study.

"We were pleasantly surprised," says Dr. Melanie W. Seybt, endocrine-head and neck surgeon at the Medical College of Georgia and first author of the study, published in the journal Archives of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery.

But their study of 428 thyroidectomy patients at MCGHealth Medical Center and the Charlie Norwood Veterans Affairs Medical Center between November 2003 and December 2007, including 44 patients over age 65 and 86 between ages 21-35, showed few differences in the two groups.

She hopes the findings will decrease concerns among patients and practitioners about the safety of thyroidectomies in the growing elderly population, noting that thorough preoperative screening, important at any age, likely helped minimize adverse reactions in their older patients.

"Dr. Melanie W. Seybt, endocrine-head and neck surgeon at the Medical College of Georgia, with patient. (Credit: Medical College of Georgia)"

Source: Medical College of Georgia