Postoperative Hypocalcemia--the Difference a Definition Makes

Background: Review of the literature reveals considerable variability in the definitions and criteria used for reporting postoperative hypocalcemia. The lack of standardization prevents a meaningful comparison of results and performance locally with the national standard. It also prevents the pooling of data when performing meta-analysis, and may affect the comparison of research results.

Methods: A literature review was performed to identify the different definitions used to define hypocalcemia in post-thyroidectomy patients. We analyzed the incidence of hypocalcemia in the same cohort of 202 post thyroidectomy patients using these definitions.

Results: The reported hypocalcemia rates varied from 0% to 46% for the same cohort depending on the definition of hypocalcemia used. Only one-third of biochemically hypocalcemic patients requested calcium supplementation.

Conclusion: This study demonstrates the need for more uniformity and standardization in the definitions used for reporting hypocalcemia rates.