Materials and Methods
This study was performed retrospectively in a single district general
hospital using a local database of all patients undergoing thyroid
surgery. The STROBE reporting guidelines was used. There are 260
patients included in the study who underwent hemi, total or completion
thyroidectomy between May 2014 to August 2019 at Great Western Hospital
NHS Foundation trust. Patients who had undergone an isthmusectomy or
open thyroid biopsy were excluded. All operations were either performed
or supervised by the same surgeon. Between May 2014 to November 2017
patients were not given TXA. From December 2017 to November 2019 all
patients were given a single dose of 1g intravenous TXA at induction
unless there were contraindications. Contraindications to TXA include
allergy to TXA, coronary stents within the last 12 months,
thromboembolic disease, stroke within the last 6 months, fibrinolytic
conditions following disseminated intravascular coagulation and history
of convulsions.
Statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics 26 (IBM
SPSS, Turkey) software. The t-test was used for analysis of continuous
variables and the chi-square test and Fisher exact test for nominal
variables. Results were evaluated within a 95% confidence interval, and
a p-value of less than 0.05 was regarded as statistically significant.
No ethics approval was sought as TXA is routinely used peri-operatively
at the hospital.