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The authors review the recent international literature relating to approximately 36,800 cases of thyroid surgery, analysing the complications associated with total thyroidectomy versus partial resection of the thyroid, with a view to drawing up lines of conduct in terms of indications for surgery of benign disease and suggestions on surgical technique to reduce complications such as recurrent laryngeal nerve injuries (transient and definitive), hypocalcaemia (transient and definitive) and superior laryngeal nerve injuries.

Transient and definitive hypoparathyroidism represent a frequent complication after thyroid surgery. Recently some authors proposed the use of intraoperative parathyroid hormone assay for the rapid detection of this complication. In this paper the authors describe the data obtained from 42 total thyroidectomies with intraoperative measurements of parathyroid hormone. When parathormone decrement was over 75% during thyroidectomy, the hypocalcemic symptomatology was found in all cases during postoperative observation. The authors emphasize intraoperative PTH dosage for immediate identification of patients at risk for postoperative hypoparathyroidism. In this cases parathyroid autotransplantation is suggested to prevent postoperative hypoparathyroidism.

The operative treatment of thyroid pathology has to be distinguished for benign and malignant pathology. The major complications associated with thyroid surgery are injury to the recurrent laryngeal nerve and hypoparathyroidism. Postoperative hypoparathyroidism is rarely the result of inadvertent removal of all parathyroid glands but, non commonly, is due to disruption of their blood supply. Postoperative hypoparathyroidism results in patients with symptomatic hypocalcemia, transitory and permanent hypoparathyroidism. Subtotal thyroidectomy is used for the treatment of benign thyroid pathology while tumors are treated by total thyroidectomy with neck dissection.

During the first week of life, 400 IU per day of 25(OH)D3 were given to 126 preterm and 112 full-term, small for date newborn infants, while 1000 UI per day of Vitamin D2 were given to 18 preterm and 27 full-term, small for date newborn infants, in order to compare their effectiveness for the prevention of neonatal hypocalcemia. 67 preterm and 67 full-term newborns were included in the control group. The incidence of late hypocalcemia was reduced from 16.4% to 0 in full-term babies and from 6% to 2.4% in preterm babies by the 25(OH)D3 but not by Vit. D2 administration. The incidence of early hypocalcemia was not modified at all. The Authors suggest 25(OH)D3 administration to prevent the late hypocalcemia and, together with calcium support, to treat the early hypocalcemia in the low birth weight newborn.

Phototherapy causes a higher incidence of hypocalcemia in preterm infants by still unknown pathogenetic mechanism. The authors studied 100 preterm newborns in order to verify whether Calcifediolo (25-OH-D3) could be useful to prevent the phototherapy-induced hypocalcemia. Results obtained show that Calcifediolo is not able, anyway, to lower the increase of the phototherapy-induced hypocalcemia in preterm infants. Vit D is therefore unlikely to play any important role in the patogenesis of phototherapy-induced hypocalcemia.