Study Explores the Relationship between Surgical Experience and Outcomes

When performing thyroid procedures, surgeons age 35 to 50 had better outcomes than their younger and older colleagues, according to the results of a study published January 11, 2012, in BMJ. The study, which included 28 surgeons who performed 3,574 thyroid procedures between April 2008 and December 2009, found that the surgeons’ performance did not consistently improve with their length of experience. Data indicated that 20 years or more of practice was associated with increased probability of both recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy and hypoparathyroidism as outcomes.