Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center (FHCC) doctors have found that thyroid surgery can be completed on an outpatient basis at a low-surgical volume hospital such as Lovell FHCC.

Capt. Myron Yencha and Lt. Cmdr. Marco Ayala, Navy otolaryngologists in Lovell FHCC's Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) Clinic, conducted the retrospective study on all thyroid surgeries performed at Lovell FHCC between August 2006 and July 2014. The review identified 160 patients who had received thyroid surgery, and their care was studied for length of stay, complications, readmission rates and other factors.

Yencha and Ayala recently published their findings in the World Journal of Surgery. Yencha noted that their research was important because previous studies had concluded that thyroid surgery could be safely performed on an outpatient basis at higher-volume surgical hospitals.

"We wanted to test that theory here at Lovell FHCC, which has a low volume of thyroid surgeries," said Yencha, section chief for the ENT clinic. "Previous studies have shown that a higher volume of surgical procedures leads to a lower number of surgical complications. Given that relationship between volume and outcome, previous studies have only looked at performing outpatient thyroid surgery at high-volume hospitals."

Looking at the data over a six-year period, Yencha and Ayala found that very few complications arose post-surgery that would require readmission to the hospital. Of the few patients who did require overnight stays in the hospital, about 40 percent of those patients had social factors requiring their medical care at the hospital, including living a long distance from a medical center and/or the absence of a responsible adult caregiver.

The review found that performing thyroid surgery as an outpatient procedure is safe for the patient. From the surgeon's perspective, there are not significant factors to prevent the patient from recovering at home. This can lead to a better recovery for the patient.

"Healing is better at home. Patients would much rather recover in the comfort of their own home," Yencha stated. "As long as there are not social issues preventing the patient from recovering at home, this is definitely the preferred recovery model for thyroid surgery."

Lovell FHCC is the nation's first fully integrated medical facility between the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense, that serves active duty military personnel, their families and veterans. Located in North Chicago, Lovell FHCC operates four Great Lakes Naval Station clinics and three community based outpatient clinics in McHenry and Evanston, Illinois, and Kenosha, Wisconsin.

For more news from Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center , visit www.navy.mil