Patient selection: thyroid surgery
Outcomes: 30-day mortality, pulmonary complications (reintubation, pulmonary embolism, COPD exacerbation, etc), cardiovascular (AMI, CHF, cardiac arrest), infectious (pneumonia, surgical site, UTI), neurological (stroke), renal (acute renal failure), other (bleeding, deep vein thrombosis)
Risk factors for morbidity and mortality:
(1) age > 70 years
(2) hypertension
(3) diabetes mellitus
(4) therapy with corticosteroids
(5) COPD
(6) renal dialysis (inferring significant renal dysfunction)
(7) substernal thyroidectomy
The patient's risk increases with the number of these risk factors present.
