Background: Obesity is a growing public health concern in most western countries. More and more patients with high body mass index (BMI) are undergoing surgical procedures of all kinds and, in this context, obese patients are undergoing thyroid surgery more than ever before. The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether thyroidectomy can be considered safe in obese patients.~Methods: Patients undergoing thyroidectomy in our Unit between January 2014 and December 2018 were retrospectively analysed. Patients were divided into 2 groups: those with BMI < 30 kg/m2 were included in Group A, while those with BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2 in Group B.
Obesity is a growing public health concern in most western countries. More and more patients with high body mass index (BMI) are undergoing surgical procedures of all kinds and, in this context, obese patients are undergoing thyroid surgery more than ever before. This study showed that obesity, in the field of thyroid surgery, is not associated with any increase of postoperative complications. Thus, it is possible to conclude that thyroidectomy can be performed safely in obese patients.