Retrospective Study on the Incidence of Thyroid Disorders in Bisha and Evolving Surgical Management Considerations

Background: There is a high prevalence of goiter in Bisha despite more than 15 years of the national campaign for increased dietary iodine supplementation. The cause is multifactorial. It is associated with non-neoplastic and neoplastic conditions. Surgical management has evolved over many years. Purpose: To describe the pathological types of goiter in Bisha along with their management and to discuss current surgical considerations. Methodology: A retrospective review of 339 patients with goiter diagnosed by FNAC and or histopathological examination and managed surgically or non-surgically. Results: There were 339 patients, of which 280 (82.6%) were females and 59 (17.4%) males. Age range was seven to 94 years with a mean of 39.18 ± 13.87 years. There were 138 (40.7%) multinodular goiters, 82 (24.2%) colloid goiters, 8 diffuse goiters (2.4%), 40 (11%) solitary thyroid nodules, 10 thyroid nodules (2.9%), 14 thyroid cysts (4.1%), 20 Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (5.9%) and two de Quervain’s thyroiditis (0.6%). Benign thyroid neoplasms comprised of 25 (7.4%) follicular adenomas and 11 (3.2%) Hürthle cell adenomas. Malignant thyroid disorders consisted of 18 (5.3%) papillary thyroid cancers, 7 (2.1%) mixed papillary/ follicular thyroid cancers, one (0.3%) mixed follicular/ papillary thyroid cancer, and three (0.9%) follicular thyroid cancers respectively. There were 128 (37.1%) total thyroidectomies, 70 (20.6%) hemithyroidectomies, 10 (2.9%) subtotal thyroidectomies and, 5 (1.5%) near-total thyroidectomies. There were 125 (36.9%) patients who had no surgery. The overall complication rate was 14.5%. Conclusion: Thyroid disorders are still prevalent despite years of dietary iodine supplementation campaigns. The rate of complications following total thyroidectomy is significant and guidelines are changing.