Parathyroidectomy and tetany

[shortcake]

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edit: okay, found out the answer, kendall says the parathyroids are probably responsible for converting ammonium carbonate into urea. oops

 

[doc05]

no. hypocalcemia-->tetany.

 

[Justin4563]

thats right.. hypocalcemia... 24- 48 hours post thyroidectomy.!!

which can cause laryngospasm

 

[Alexs42]

... and I just saw my first patient with florid hypocalcemia following total thyroidectomy this morning. Very fascinating. If you tap the face over the facial nerve, that side of the face spasms (she had a Ca of 6.5). Hopefully she will be fine, beacuse on parathyroids were taken out, as per intraop vis. & path report. Probably just bruising and inflamation post-op.

aleks

 

[medstudent2005]

... and I just saw my first patient with florid hypocalcemia following total thyroidectomy this morning. Very fascinating. If you tap the face over the <a href="http://www.ntsearch.com/search.php?q=facial&v=56">facial</a> nerve, that side of the face spasms (she had a Ca of 6.5). Hopefully she will be fine, beacuse on parathyroids were taken out, as per intraop vis. & path report. Probably just bruising and inflamation post-op.

aleks

that facial spasm is called the Chvostek sign. Hypocalcemia ---> Tetany didn't know the part about laryngospasm, but post-thyroidectomy, must worry about recurrent laryngeal nerve injury, which can cause of course paresis of laryngeal muscles and difficulty speaking (if one side affected) or suffocation (if bilateral).


adios

 

[Tenesma]

if they get real hypocalcemic their tongue will fasciculate spontaneously...