Investigating the Effect of Topical Dexamethasone at the Site of Thyroid Surgery (on the Parathyroids) on Blood Calcium Levels after Surgery, Compared to the Control Group in Patients who Underwent Total Thyroidectomy.

Background: Considering the side effects of systemic injection of dexamethasone, we decided to investigate the effect of local spraying of dexamethasone in the thyroid site after thyroidectomy on postoperative calcium levels in patients who undergo total thyroidectomy.

Materials and methods: The present investigation was a randomized clinical trial of dexamethasone on 60 patients undergoing thyroidectomy, who were assigned to two groups, namely the dexamethasone and control groups, each including 30 patients. Age, gender, type of underlying pathology was recorded in medicine. Also, the blood calcium level was recorded before surgery, 6, 24 and 48 hours after thyroidectomy. Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS version 20 using tests including t-test, paired t-test, Chi-squared, and repeated measures ANOVA.

Results: On average, the 24-hour postoperative calcium level was found to be significantly different between the two groups (P0.001). Nevertheless, no such difference was found to exist between the average calcium level 6 and 48 hours after the operation (P0.05). Additionally, we noted a marked difference between the average blood calcium level, before and 48 hours after the operation, in both investigated groups (P0.05).

Conclusion: Accordingly, local spraying of dexamethasone in the thyroid site, after thyroidectomy, is effective on the calcium level after the operation and reduces the rate of hypocalcemia 24 hours after the operation.