Obese patients with thyroid cancer: a dangerous surgery?

Abstract

Background: Thyroid cancer is the most common endocrine cancer and its incidence has increased intensely in recent decades. In the same period, there has been an epidemic of obesity in both developed and developing countries. Having epidemiological data that obesity is associated independently with thyroid cancer, there is a lack of studies comparing endocrine specific postoperative complications of thyroidectomy and lymph node dissection between normal weight and obese patients with thyroid cancer. Aim: To analyze the postoperative complications between thyroid cancer patients with a BMI ≥30, compared with those having a BMI below 30. Design: An ambispective cohort study carried out in a tertiary referral hospital in Girona within an Endocrinology Surgery Unit. Participants: Patients operated of thyroid cancer at Hospital Universitari Dr. Josep Trueta, separated into two groups depending on their BMI: ≥30 or <30.