Thyroid hormone replacement boosts risk of abdominal surgery complications

Editor's Note: 

Preoperative thyroid hormone replacement independently predicts operative morbidity and length of stay following major abdominal surgery, according to a January 23 report in the American Journal of Surgery.

To determine the association between preoperative thyroid hormone replacement and complications following major abdominal surgery, researchers performed a retrospective case series of 2,700 patients enrolled in the Michigan Surgical Quality Collaborative (MSQC) who underwent major abdominal surgery at an academic institution over a 10-year period. Results showed patients on preoperative thyroid replacement had a 1.5- fold increased risk of serious morbidity and a 1.7- fold greater risk for serious sepsis. Thyroid replacement was associated with longer length of stay.

Results suggest that patients on thyroid hormone replacement were more likely to undergo an open rather than minimally invasive surgery, the report notes. Open surgery was associated with greater risk of serious morbidity and longer length of stay.