Report

The British Association of Endocrine and Thyroid Surgeons’ 6th Endocrine Surgery Audit Report reveals that the number of thyroid operations and members adding these to UKRETS per year seems to have plateaued out since 2014 / 2015. As approximately half of all thyroid operations undertaken in the United Kingdom are added to UKRETS, further efforts need to be made to get thyroid surgeons not currently contributing to UKRETS to do so.

However, there has been a slight increase in the proportion of patients undergoing thyroid lobectomy for papillary thyroid cancer compared to the Fifth Audit Report. Lobectomy was the commonest procedure undertaken for papillary thyroid cancer up to and including T2 tumours (TNM staging).

The number of thyroid (and parathyroid) operations performed by trainees has halved over the past decade, raising some concerns about the amount of training being delivered, or perhaps about the numbers of trainees entering the specialty, both of which need to be addressed. Rates of mortality and re-operation for bleeding remain reassuring low. Also rates of post-operative and late hypocalcaemia following thyroidectomy continue to fall with time, and incidence of re-operation for bleeding, complications and mortality, particularly following minimally invasive adrenalectomy remain reassuringly low.