Tianjin Medical Journal ›› 2025, Vol. 53 ›› Issue (8): 826-830.doi: 10.11958/20250183

• Clinical Research • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Analysis of risk factors and construction of a predictive model for early hypocalcemia after endoscopic thyroidectomy by breast approach

LIU Zhiyuan(), YANG Shengfei, QIAN Shiran, DENG Yilian, LI Dongwei, LI Junjiu()   

  1. Department of General Surgery, Dongguan Tungwah Hospital, Dongguan 523110, China
  • Received:2025-01-21 Revised:2025-06-05 Published:2025-08-15 Online:2025-08-12
  • Contact: E-mail:13527965368@163.com

Abstract:

Objective To explore the risk factors of early hypocalcemia after endoscopic thyroidectomy by breast approach (ETBA) and establish a predictive model to evaluate its occurrence risk. Methods A total of 155 patients with thyroid nodules who underwent ETBA were selected. Patients were divided into the low calcium group (<2 mmol/L, n=41) and the normal group (≥2 mmol/L, n=114) according to the serum calcium level 24 hours after the operation. Before the operation, thyroid function and parathyroid hormone (PTH) were detected, and ultrasound was performed to evaluate cervical lymph node enlargement. Meanwhile, nodule location, maximum tumor diameter, nodule adhesion to the capsule, calcification and the edge of the nodule were also detected. The surgical conditions such as gland resection (unilateral or bilateral), operation time and misresection of parathyroid glands were recorded. PTH and serum calcium were detected 24 hours after the operation. Pathological assessment was used to evaluate benign and malignant conditions, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, multifocal lesions, thyroid capsule invasion and lymph node metastasis. Results Compared with the normal group, the cervical lymph node metastasis, malignant nodules, multifocal lesions, cervical lymph node enlargement, bilateral gland resection, parathyroid gland resection by mistake, combined Hashimoto's thyroiditis, maximum tumor diameter and operation time were increased in the hypocalcemia group, but PTH at 24 hours after the operation was decreased (P<0.05). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that cervical lymph node metastasis, long operation time, parathyroid resection by mistake, combined Hashimoto's thyroiditis and maximum tumor diameter were independent risk factors for early hypocalcemia in ETBA. Based on this, a visual nomogram model was constructed, with excellent discrimination [the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was 0.920 (95%CI: 0.834-0.971)], and the calibration curve showed that the predicted values were highly consistent with the measured values (Hosmer-Lemeshow χ2=0.007, P=0.087). Conclusion The nomogram model constructed based on multivariate Logistic regression can effectively predict the risk of early hypocalcemia after ETBA.

Key words: thyroid nodule, thyroidectomy, hypocalcemia, nomogram

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