Heidi Lund, Jussi Haijanen, Saku Suominen, Saija Hurme, Suvi Sippola, Tuomo Rantanen, Tero Rautio, Anne Mattila, Tarja Pinta, Pia Nordström, Jyrki Kössi, Imre Ilves, Paulina Salminen
{"title":"A randomized double-blind noninferiority clinical multicenter trial on oral moxifloxacin versus placebo in the outpatient treatment of uncomplicated acute appendicitis: APPAC IV study protocol.","authors":"Heidi Lund, Jussi Haijanen, Saku Suominen, Saija Hurme, Suvi Sippola, Tuomo Rantanen, Tero Rautio, Anne Mattila, Tarja Pinta, Pia Nordström, Jyrki Kössi, Imre Ilves, Paulina Salminen","doi":"10.1177/14574969241293018","DOIUrl":"10.1177/14574969241293018","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Antibiotic therapy is currently considered a safe and effective treatment alternative for computed tomography (CT)-confirmed uncomplicated acute appendicitis with recent studies reporting good results on both oral antibiotics only and outpatient management. Furthermore, there are promising pilot results on uncomplicated acute appendicitis management with symptomatic treatment (placebo). This trial aims to assess whether both antibiotics and hospitalization can be safely omitted from the treatment of uncomplicated acute appendicitis.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The APPAC IV (APPendicitis Acuta IV) trial is a randomized, double-blind, multicenter noninferiority clinical trial comparing oral moxifloxacin with oral placebo in an outpatient setting with a discharge directly from the emergency room (ER). Adult patients (18-60 years) with CT-confirmed uncomplicated acute appendicitis (absence of appendicolith, abscess, perforation, tumor, appendiceal diameter ⩾15 mm on CT, or body temperature >38 °C) will be enrolled in nine Finnish hospitals. Primary outcome is treatment success at 30 days, that is, the resolution of acute appendicitis resulting in discharge from the hospital without appendectomy during the 30-day follow-up evaluated using a noninferiority design with a noninferiority margin of 6 percentage points. Noninferiority will be evaluated using one-sided 95% confidence interval of proportion difference between groups. Secondary endpoints include postintervention complications, recurrent appendicitis after the 30-day follow-up, duration of hospital stay, admission to hospital and reason for admission, readmissions to emergency department or hospitalization, VAS pain scores, quality of life, sick leave, and treatment costs. The follow-up after discharge from the ER includes a phone call at day 1, and at 3-4 days, 30 days, and 1, 3, 5, 10, and 20 years. Those eligible patients, who decline to undergo randomization, will be invited to participate in a concurrent observational cohort study with follow-up at 30 days, and 1 and 5 years.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>To our knowledge, APPAC IV trial is the first large randomized, double-blind, noninferiority multicenter clinical trial aiming to compare oral antibiotics and placebo for CT-diagnosed uncomplicated acute appendicitis in an outpatient setting. The study aims to bridge the major knowledge gap on whether antibiotics and hospitalization or both can be omitted in the treatment of uncomplicated acute appendicitis.</p><p><strong>Trial registration: </strong>The study protocol has been approved by the Clinical Trials Information System (CTIS) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), study number: 2023-506213-21-00 and the trial has been registered in ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT06210269.</p>","PeriodicalId":49566,"journal":{"name":"Scandinavian Journal of Surgery","volume":" ","pages":"3-12"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142786564","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Taru M Lehtonen, Laura E Koskenvuo, Anna H Lepistö
{"title":"Early-onset rectal cancer: Experience of a single-center, high-volume unit.","authors":"Taru M Lehtonen, Laura E Koskenvuo, Anna H Lepistö","doi":"10.1177/14574969241282543","DOIUrl":"10.1177/14574969241282543","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and objective: </strong>The incidence of early-onset colorectal cancer among the young (<50 years) has been reported to have risen in last decades. This retrospective study aimed to investigate the characteristics of early-onset rectal cancers (EO-RCs) and potential changes in proportion of EO-RCs, and further to report the mortality and recurrence rates of EO-RCs.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In the years 2007-2021, 2557 rectal cancer (RC) patients were operated in Helsinki University Hospital and of them 147 were 18-49 years old. Cumulative overall survival (OS), disease-specific survival, and disease-free survival were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier analysis.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The percentual amount of the EO-RCs varied between 2.5% and 11.3% annually and there was no perceivable trend. Majority were adenocarcinomas (98.7%), of which 8.8% were mucinous. Predisposing factors such as Lynch syndrome, polyposis, or ulcerative colitis were seen in 26 patients (17.7%) and in 10 of 22 patients (45.5%) under 35 years. The cumulative 5-year OS was 91.9% in stage I, 93.3% in stage II, 86.7% in stage III, and 50.0% in stage IV disease. Metastatic recurrence was found in 22 cases (18.4%) and local recurrence in 8 patients (5.4%) and 6 patients had both.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>In our cohort of 147 EO-RC patients, OS was good and the clinical course did not seem to differ much from the course of RC in general population.</p>","PeriodicalId":49566,"journal":{"name":"Scandinavian Journal of Surgery","volume":" ","pages":"22-34"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142479071","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Minea Söderlund, Henni Huhtamo, Sara Protto, Jussi A Hernesniemi, Damir Vakhitov, Niku Oksala, Niina Khan
{"title":"Magnetic Resonance Imaging - Derived Psoas Muscle Area and Survival in Patients Treated Invasively for Peripheral Arterial Disease.","authors":"Minea Söderlund, Henni Huhtamo, Sara Protto, Jussi A Hernesniemi, Damir Vakhitov, Niku Oksala, Niina Khan","doi":"10.1177/14574969241282485","DOIUrl":"10.1177/14574969241282485","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and aims: </strong>Psoas muscle parameters estimated from computed tomography images, as surrogates for sarcopenia, have been found to be associated with post-interventional outcomes after a wide range of cardiovascular procedures. The pre-interventional assessment in patients undergoing invasive treatment for peripheral arterial disease is increasingly often carried out with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and we therefore sought to investigate the predictive potential of MRI-derived psoas muscle area in this cohort.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A total of 899 patients with available sufficient quality pre-interventional MRI conducted within 6 months prior to treatment undergoing open, endovascular, or hybrid revascularization procedures for claudication and/or limb-threatening ischemia at Tampere University hospital between 2010 and 2020 were retrospectively studied in this single-center cohort study. The follow-up lasted until 17 June 2021. Psoas muscle areas were measured from the magnetic resonance images at the L4 level, and the reliability of muscle parameter measurements was tested with intraclass correlation coefficient analysis. The average psoas muscle area values (mean of left and right psoas surface areas) were z-scored and analyzed separately for men and women.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The median follow-up time was 5.9 years (interquartile range (IQR) = 2.7-7.8), and the overall mortality count was 259 (28.8%) (29.5% n = 168/569 for men and 27.6% n = 91/330 for women). The intraclass correlation coefficient analysis showed excellent interrater reliability for psoas muscle measurements. The muscle surface areas were larger in men (mean = 7.58 cm<sup>2</sup>) compared to women (mean = 5.27 cm<sup>2</sup>) (p < 0.001). Higher psoas muscle area was associated with better survival in women (p = 0.003, hazard ratio (HR) = 0.71, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.6-0.9 per 1 SD), whereas in men, an independent association of the muscle parameter with mortality was not found.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>MRI-derived psoas muscle area may be a prognostic factor for clinical use.</p>","PeriodicalId":49566,"journal":{"name":"Scandinavian Journal of Surgery","volume":" ","pages":"44-55"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142479072","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Luís Duarte-Gamas, Mariana Fragão-Marques, Petar Zlatanovic, José P Andrade, João Rocha-Neves
{"title":"The diagnostic accuracy of intraoperative near-infrared spectroscopy in carotid artery endarterectomy under general anesthesia: A systematic review with meta-analysis.","authors":"Luís Duarte-Gamas, Mariana Fragão-Marques, Petar Zlatanovic, José P Andrade, João Rocha-Neves","doi":"10.1177/14574969241282611","DOIUrl":"10.1177/14574969241282611","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Carotid endarterectomy (CEA) carries a risk of perioperative stroke, particularly during carotid cross-clamping. While neurological monitoring is reliable for patients under regional anesthesia, alternative options are needed for those unsuitable for regional anesthesia. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is commonly used during CEA, but its diagnostic accuracy varies, particularly under general anesthesia.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A systematic review with meta-analysis was performed to assess the diagnostic accuracy of intraoperative NIRS in detecting clamp-associated hemodynamic cerebral ischemia in patients under general anesthesia. MEDLINE, Google Scholar, and Web of Science were searched for studies that compared NIRS with the occurrence of immediate or early postoperative neurological deficits in patients undergoing CEA under GA. Meta-regression was performed to explore causes of heterogeneity.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 28 studies involving 5729 patients were included. The results show that NIRS has a summary sensitivity of 47.5% and a summary specificity of 90.3% in diagnosing clamp-associated cerebral ischemia under general anesthesia, with an area under the ROC curve (AUC-ROC) of 0.85. The presence of a contralateral carotid occlusion (CCO) increased summary sensitivity while smoking history the presence of CCO and smoking history decreased summary specificity. For postoperative stroke prediction, NIRS has a summary sensitivity of 49.5% and summary specificity of 88.5%, with an AUC-ROC of 0.85.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>NIRS is a specific but not highly sensitive tool for detecting cerebral ischemia during CEA, and its use in combination with more sensitive neuromonitoring methods is recommended, in order to guide intraoperative neuroprotective strategies.</p>","PeriodicalId":49566,"journal":{"name":"Scandinavian Journal of Surgery","volume":" ","pages":"84-94"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142696035","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Mohamed Ali Chaouch, Mohammad Iqbal Hussain, Maissa Jellali, Amine Gouader, Alessandro Mazzotta, Adriano Carneiro da Costa, Bassem Krimi, Jim Khan, Hani Oweira
{"title":"Systematic review and meta-analysis comparing robotic total mesorectal excision versus transanal total mesorectal excision for rectal cancer.","authors":"Mohamed Ali Chaouch, Mohammad Iqbal Hussain, Maissa Jellali, Amine Gouader, Alessandro Mazzotta, Adriano Carneiro da Costa, Bassem Krimi, Jim Khan, Hani Oweira","doi":"10.1177/14574969241271784","DOIUrl":"10.1177/14574969241271784","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>The best approach for total mesorectal excision (TME) remains controversial. Two recently described approaches are robotic TME (RTME) and transanal TME (TaTME). This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to compare the outcomes between robotic surgery and TaTME in patients undergoing rectal cancer resection.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We structured this systematic review and meta-analysis according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) guidelines 2020 and Assessing the Methodological Quality of Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR) guidelines. An electronic search of relevant literature was conducted on 20 May 2023. The protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42023435259).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Eleven eligible nonrandomised studies were included in this study. The study included 2796 patients (RTME = 1800; TaTME = 996). The RTME group had a higher rate of complete TME. However, no significant differences were observed in mortality, morbidity, severe complications, operative time, conversion rate, anastomotic leak, hospital stay, CRM-positive resection margin, distal resection margin, number of harvested lymph nodes, abdominoperineal resection (APR) rate, or local recurrence between the RTME and TaTME groups.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The RTME technique may ensure a higher rate of complete TME than TaTME. However, no significant differences were observed in most postoperative outcomes and oncological safety between the RTME and TaTME groups. Evidence does not conclusively favor one technique over the other, highlighting the need for additional randomized controlled trials to better define their roles in rectal cancer surgery.</p>","PeriodicalId":49566,"journal":{"name":"Scandinavian Journal of Surgery","volume":" ","pages":"73-83"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142299558","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Noora Heikkinen, Yrjänä Nietosvaara, Aleksi Reito, Joonas Sirola, Mikael Hytönen, Aukusti Savolainen, Mikko P Räisänen
{"title":"Carpal tunnel release under local anesthesia with or without distal median nerve block: Double-blind randomized clinical trial.","authors":"Noora Heikkinen, Yrjänä Nietosvaara, Aleksi Reito, Joonas Sirola, Mikael Hytönen, Aukusti Savolainen, Mikko P Räisänen","doi":"10.1177/14574969241277028","DOIUrl":"10.1177/14574969241277028","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is the most common entrapment neuropathy of the upper extremity, and its surgical treatment is carpal tunnel release (CTR). It is mostly performed in local anesthesia. There are no clinical randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing local infiltration anesthesia with or without a distal median nerve block in CTR. The aim of the PERSONNEL trial (carPal tunnEl ReleaSe lOcal iNfiltratioN mEdian bLockade) is to assess whether a distal median nerve block reduces pain during and after the procedure in addition to local anesthesia.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This is a single-center randomized clinical superiority trial comparing local anesthesia alone and local anesthesia with a distal median nerve block for CTR in patients with CTS. Adult patients will be randomized in one university hospital in Finland, and the intended sample size is 118. The primary outcome is the mean pain level after the procedure during 72 h using a visual analogue scale (VAS). The secondary outcomes include expected pain; pain during the injection of the anesthetic solution caused by pressure, burning, needle sting, and total pain; worst pain during the surgery; duration of anesthesia; number of experienced needle stings; Boston Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Questionnaire (BCTSQ); pain killer consumption;, patient satisfaction using Net Promoter Score (NPS); and complications.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>Patient satisfaction is a crucial factor in modern healthcare. A distal median nerve block may reduce pain during and after CTR, potentially increasing patient satisfaction with the given treatment. It can also be hypothesized that better postoperative pain control may prevent complications, for example, complex regional pain syndrome. However, we lack adequate evidence to justify the use of distal median nerve block, which can itself predispose patients to complications, for example, median nerve injury. Therefore, there is a need for adequate RCTs to assess its efficacy. The results of this study can be used to optimize anesthesia for carpal tunnel surgery, improve patient satisfaction, and possibly prevent complications.</p><p><strong>Registration: </strong>ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05372393.</p>","PeriodicalId":49566,"journal":{"name":"Scandinavian Journal of Surgery","volume":" ","pages":"13-21"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142299556","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Letter to the Editor: Emergency surgery influences oncological outcome in small intestinal neuroendocrine tumors.","authors":"Waleed Ahmad, Abdur Rehman","doi":"10.1177/14574969241310047","DOIUrl":"10.1177/14574969241310047","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":49566,"journal":{"name":"Scandinavian Journal of Surgery","volume":" ","pages":"109-110"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142878442","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Letter to the editor: Preoperatively suspected gallbladder cancer improves survival compared with incidental gallbladder cancer in pT3 patients.","authors":"Abdur Rehman, Adam U A Butt, Saba Shafiq","doi":"10.1177/14574969241298036","DOIUrl":"10.1177/14574969241298036","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":49566,"journal":{"name":"Scandinavian Journal of Surgery","volume":" ","pages":"107-108"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142577118","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Tarmo Korpela, Elina Salomaa, Petteri Kauhanen, Tuomas Selander, Marja Hedman, Annastiina Husso
{"title":"Association of the ascending aortic length with acute type A aortic dissection: A retrospective cohort study.","authors":"Tarmo Korpela, Elina Salomaa, Petteri Kauhanen, Tuomas Selander, Marja Hedman, Annastiina Husso","doi":"10.1177/14574969241294261","DOIUrl":"10.1177/14574969241294261","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and aims: </strong>To investigate whether, alongside aortic dilatation, ascending aortic (AA) elongation is associated with the increased risk for aortic dissection.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This retrospective study included patients treated for Stanford type A aortic dissection (n = 102) in Kuopio University Hospital between 2009 and 2022, patients with AA dilatation (maximal diameter > 40 mm) (n = 134), and healthy controls (n = 191). AA length and dimensions were measured from aortic computed tomography angiography (CTA) images. AA length was defined as the distance between the aortic annulus and the origin of the brachiocephalic trunk.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>After adjusting the AA length to the patients' age, height, body surface area (BSA), sex, and maximal diameter, the dissected aortas were 14 mm longer than in the healthy controls and 5 mm longer than in the dilated non-dissected aortas (p < 0.001). The dilated non-dissected aortas were 8 mm longer than in the healthy controls (p < 0.001). In the dissection cohort, 25/102 (25%) patients had maximal AA diameter < 55 mm and 16/102 (16%) patients had maximal AA diameter ⩾ 55 mm together with AA length > 110 mm. By combining 110 mm AA length and < 55 mm diameter, 58% of the dissection patients would have been identified instead of using solely AA diameter ⩾ 55 mm as a cut-off criterion, based on which only 33% patients met the indication for elective surgery.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>AA length seemed to have an association with acute type A dissection, and therefore, it could be an additional tool in identifying patients who may benefit from preventive aortic surgery.[Formula: see text].</p>","PeriodicalId":49566,"journal":{"name":"Scandinavian Journal of Surgery","volume":" ","pages":"56-64"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142711688","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Parisa A Dadkhah, Amirali Farshid, Reza Khademi, Shayan Yaghoubi, Ailin Asadzadeh, Nima Moharamnejad, Faezeh Jadidian, Seyed A Ziaei, Sepehr Haghshoar, Omid Salimi, Seyyed-Ghavam Shafagh, Negin Rabiei, Saleh Shahsavari, Samin Shokravi, Zahra Maroufi, Niloofar Deravi, Gisou Erabi, Mahdyieh Naziri
{"title":"Impact of oral administration of calcitriol to prevent symptomatic hypocalcemia after total thyroidectomy: Systematic review and meta-analysis.","authors":"Parisa A Dadkhah, Amirali Farshid, Reza Khademi, Shayan Yaghoubi, Ailin Asadzadeh, Nima Moharamnejad, Faezeh Jadidian, Seyed A Ziaei, Sepehr Haghshoar, Omid Salimi, Seyyed-Ghavam Shafagh, Negin Rabiei, Saleh Shahsavari, Samin Shokravi, Zahra Maroufi, Niloofar Deravi, Gisou Erabi, Mahdyieh Naziri","doi":"10.1177/14574969241251899","DOIUrl":"10.1177/14574969241251899","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>One of the most common complications of total thyroidectomy is post-operative transient or persistent hypoparathyroidism that can cause symptomatic hypocalcaemia. To prevent this complication, shorten the period of hospitalization and reduce morbidity, routine supplementation of oral vitamin D and calcium has been suggested. This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to critically assess the association between pre-operative calcitriol supplementation and post-operative hypocalcaemia.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Randomized controlled trial studies were identified by searching PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases up to 30 March 2023. Screening of titles, abstracts, and full texts of articles were performed, and data were extracted for a meta-analysis.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>This meta-analysis includes data from nine randomized controlled trials with a total of 1259 patients but with significant heterogeneity. The results demonstrate that calcium levels were higher in patients who had pre-operative calcitriol supplementation, with a weighted mean difference (WMD) 0.18 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.00, 0.37). Pre-operative calcitriol supplementation did not lead to significant changes in parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels, with WMD -0.49 (95% CI: -1.91, 0.94).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Pre-operative calcitriol supplementation leads to higher calcium levels, but the high heterogeneity of the included studies (79% to 98.7%) could affect the results.</p>","PeriodicalId":49566,"journal":{"name":"Scandinavian Journal of Surgery","volume":" ","pages":"263-272"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141089188","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}