Pediatric thyroglossal duct cyst excision: A NSQIP-P analysis of 30-day complications

Objective: Identify and compare clinical risk factors, perioperative sequelae, and surgical complications of infants age 2 or younger to children above age 2 undergoing thyroglossal duct cyst (TGDC) excision. Methods: Retrospective analysis of the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement-Pediatric Database (2014-2018). Study population includes pediatric patients (<= 18 years) who underwent excision of TGDC. Infants aged 2 years or younger were compared to children older than 2 years. Results: A total of 3052 cases were identified. There were 375 infants with an age of 2 years or younger and 2977 children who were older than 2 years. Mean age at time of surgery was 6.3 years, with a female-to-male ratio of 1:1.1. Following hospital discharge, there were 70 related readmissions and 3 related reoperations. There was no statistically significant gender (p = .270) or ethnic (p = .122) differences between groups. Additionally, a history of prematurity (p = .759) and postoperative admission status (ie, inpatient versus outpatient, p = .697) were not statistically significantly different between groups. Lastly, general complication rates between age groups including Clostridium difficile colitis, occurrences of bleeding and blood transfusion, surgical site infections, related readmission, and reoperation were not statistically significantly different. Conclusion: TGDC excision was not shown to be associated with increased risk when performed in infants age 2 or younger compared to children older than age 2.