CARACTERIZACIÓN DE LOS PACIENTES CON LESIÓN DEL NERVIO LARÍNGEO RECURRENTE POSTERIOR A TIROIDECTOMÍA EN EL HOSPITAL REGIONAL TEODORO MALDONADO CARBO, DURANTE EL PERÍODO 2015-2016

Abstract

Introduction: Between the main complication of thyroid surgery is the recurrent laryngeal nerve injury, which may be transient or permanent, decreasing the quality of life of the patient and may even obstruct the airway when the lesion is bilateral in patients submitted to this procedure. Several factors are related to nerve injury, some of them preventable if the operative protocols are followed. Objective: To characterize patients who presented recurrent laryngeal nerve injury after thyroidectomy at the Teodoro Maldonado Carbo Regional Hospital. During the period 2015-2016. Materials and methods: an observational, descriptive and prospective study. We analyzed a total of 298 patients undergoing thyroidectomy at the Regional Hospital Teodoro Maldonado Carbo, during the period 2015- 2016. A form for the collection of the data, which were taken from the medical histories of the patients in the digital system (AS400). For the statistical analysis, we used the SPSS v15 evaluation. Results: Of the total number of patients, the most frequent age was 45-64 years 47.0%, most were women 86.9%. There was a 16.7% of patients that presented alterations of the tone of the voice, were mainly dysphonias 15.4%. The main preoperative diagnosis was the papillary cancer. The most performed surgical procedure was 53.7% total thyroidectomy. There was a 10.4% of injury to the recurrent laryngeal nerve, which was more frequent in patients between the ages of 45-64 years 48.4%, female 80.6%, and a statistically significant association was found with the type of cancer and the surgical procedure. Conclusions: the recurrent laryngeal nerve injuries are common and are associated with the type of cancer and the type of surgical treatment. Key words: thyroidectomy, injury to the recurrent laryngeal nerve, thyroid cancer