ArticleWorld journal of surgery2018
Chest X-ray Prior to Thyroidectomy: Is It Really Needed?
Article in World journal of surgery, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 7 citations in OpenAlex.
- Temporal and geographical variations of chest x-rays: A ten-year register study from Norway.Acta radiologica open · 2025Article
- Optimizing the Yield of Abnormal Preoperative Chest Radiographs in Elective Non-cardiothoracic Surgery: Development of a Risk Prediction Score and External Validation.World journal of surgery · 2023Observational
- Characterizing and quantifying low-value diagnostic imaging internationally: a scoping review.BMC medical imaging · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundChest X-ray (CXR) prior to thyroid surgery continues to be routinely obtained at some institutions despite the lack of evidence for its utility. This study aimed to determine the utility of preoperative CXR in patients undergoing thyroidectomy at a single institution.
methodsIn total, 594 thyroidectomy patients were included in the study. Demographics, CXR findings, anesthesia records and pathologic data were assessed. We investigated whether difficult intubation or cancer stage correlated with the presence of CXR abnormalities.
resultsOf the total cohort, 83% had a preoperative CXR and 67% had cancer on surgical pathology. In total, 56% had at least one CXR abnormality, the most frequent being skeletal abnormalities (25%), followed by tracheal deviation (16%). Of 78 patients (15.8%) with tracheal deviation on CXR, only 5% had a difficult intubation. Tracheal deviation was more commonly seen in non-cancer cases compared to cancer cases (27 vs. 12%, p < 0.001). CXR impacted management in 4%. Among patients with cancer, a higher T-stage (>2) was associated with higher rate of tracheal deviation compared to T1 (17 vs. 8%, p < 0.001). While patients with non-metastatic cancer (n = 277) compared to metastatic cancer patients had a higher proportion of any abnormality on CXR (57 vs. 44%, p = 0.045), there was no significant difference for tracheal deviation, skeletal abnormalities or lung nodules. Of patients with nodules on CXR (n = 29), only 14% were found to have metastatic disease.
conclusionThe utility of preoperative CXR in patients undergoing thyroidectomy is very limited. In the climate of value-based care, routine use of this modality may be redundant and should only be ordered if clinically indicated.
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Registered trials
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