Clinical outcomes of outpatient thyroidectomy: A systematic review and single-arm meta-analysis

Background: The aim of this meta-analysis is to investigate the safety of outpatient thyroidectomy based on 24-h and same-day discharge criteria. Methods: CENTRAL, Embase, PubMed, and Scopus were searched. A meta-analysis of selected studies was performed. The review was registered prospectively with PROSPERO (CRD42022361134). Results: Thirty-one studies met the eligibility criteria, with a total of 74328 patients undergoing thyroidectomy in an outpatient setting based on 24-h discharge criteria. Overall postoperative complications after outpatient thyroidectomies were 5.7% (95%CI: 0.049-0.065; I2 = 97.3%), consisting of hematoma (0.4%; 95%CI: 0.003-0.005; I2 = 83.4%), recurrent laryngeal nerve injury (0.4%; 95%CI: 0.003-0.006; I2 = 93.5%), and hypocalcemia (1.6%; 95%CI: 0.012-0.019; I2 = 93.7%). The rate of readmission was 1.1% (95%CI: 0.007-0.015; I2 = 95.4%). Results were similar for same-day criteria. Conclusions: Our analysis demonstrated that outpatient thyroidectomy is a safe procedure in the management of thyroid disease for selected patients.