The role of drain in thyroid surgery

Introduction. The function of drains in thyroid surgery has long been a matter of discussion, with the possible advantages of avoiding complications being weighed against the risks and discomfort they could cause. By examining not only what is medically effective but also what actually benefits the patient’s recovery and well-being.
Aim. To assess the importance of the drainage with the thyroidectomy operations.
Materials and methods. A retrospective study was conducted over four years and included 148 patients that had thyroid surgery without using a drain. The ultrasound was used preoperatively in classifying the thyroid pathologies and the sizes of the gland and postoperatively in assessment and treatment of surgical site collection. The hospital stay, post-operative complications related to surgical drainage, and the way of dealing with them for each patient were recorded.
Results. The types of goiter were 8 diffuse, 68 multinodular, and 72 solitary thyroid nodule that were treated by different types of thyroidectomies without drainage (25 by subtotal thyroidectomy (16.8 %), 12 by total lobectomy and isthmesctomy (8.1 %) and 111 by total thyroidectomy (75 %)). There were no operation site collections in 94 % of the cases; 9 cases only had developed post-operative collection, and all were resolved by simple needle aspiration.
Conclusion. There is no role for the drain with thyroid surgery, and thyroidectomies can be considered a day case surgery.