What's Up in Surgery? — Numbers

Card 1 of 6: Transient hypocalcaemia

DisputedThyroidectomy 📖 Ch 7 · Endocrine Surgery

END-THY-CALC-01

Transient hypocalcaemia

Published split by definition — never merged (see Disputed Figures Table B)

The number is concealed — recall it first, then flip the card and grade yourself honestly.

END-THY-CALC-01 · Transient hypocalcaemia

~20–30% · 10–20%

Biochemical ; symptomatic/clinical

Disputed. Sources disagree — the dispute table is on the card

Applies to — the population, exactly as printed

Total thyroidectomy only

Basis — n / evidence base

Meta-analysis (median 27%, IQR 19–38%); multicentre series (14.0% after total)

Dispute — the sources disagree

Source 1 · ~20–30% (median 27%, IQR 19–38%) · Edafe et al., *Br J Surg*, 2014 (systematic review & meta-analysis, 115 studies) · Biochemical — laboratory hypocalcaemia, regardless of symptoms
Source 2 · 10–20% (temporary hypoparathyroidism 14.0% after total thyroidectomy in Rosato) · Rosato et al., *World J Surg*, 2004 (n=14,934) · Symptomatic / clinical — hypocalcaemia manifesting clinically

Why they differ

Definition of the event. The biochemical definition captures asymptomatic laboratory dips; the clinical definition captures only patients who feel or require treatment for it.

Adopted

Both, published as a permanent split by definition — biochemical ~20–30% and symptomatic 10–20% — never a single merged number.

Justification

Neither source is weaker; they measure different events, so the protocol's "adopt the strongest" rule resolves here as "adopt both, labelled" — merging them would fabricate a number no source published.

Sources

Grade yourself — spaced repetition

Verification stamp: 🔴 Disputed · Registry audit 2026-11-06 · Pending triple review · Surgery Code registry — family file 04 (04-thyroid.md), coded unit; registry audit 2026-11-06. Permalink to this card