Risk factors of drainage hole adhesion in patients with thyroidectomy

Objective: Drainage is routinely performed after thyroidectomy. Drainage hole adhesion (DHA) seriously affects the quality of life of patients following thyroidectomy. Our aim was to investigate the factors influencing DHA. Methods: A total of 323 patients who underwent thyroidectomy with postoperative drainage under the same surgical team between January 2007 and October 2011 were enrolled in our study. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to assess the independent associations between DHA and the risk factors that are found to be statistically significant viaunivariate analysis. Results: Among the 323 patients, 42 were males and 281 were females with a median age of 49 years (range: 17-76 years). The overall DHA incidence rate was 24.5% (79/323), in which mild, moderate, and severe adhesions accounted for 41.8% (33/79), 54.4% (43/79), and 3.8% (3/79), respectively, of the total cases. Drainage material, placement, and quantity, as well as operation extent, were significantly related to DHA (P<0.05). Multivariate analysis results showed a significant association between drainage material, drainage volume and DHA. Conclusions: DHA after thyroidectomy is related to several factors, of which the independent risk factor is the drainage material.