Surgery for thyroid cancers often necessitates a neck dissection. This is usually a safe procedure, but can be associated with complications. Chyle leak is one such complication, fortunately rare. There is a dearth of literature with regard to the management of chyle leak in the neck. We present a single center experience in the management of chyle leak in the neck, to improve the understanding of its management.

A retrospective analysis of patients with thyroid cancer, managed between January 1st 2005 and December 31st 2011, in a single institution was performed. Among these, patients with chyle leak were identified. All pertinent data collected and results analyzed using STATA (v10).

Three hundred and seventy-three/eight hundred and twenty-one (45.4%) patients surgically managed for thyroid cancer underwent a neck dissection. Thoracic duct injury was recog- nized and managed intraoperatively in 20/373 (5.4%) patients. The leak was prevented in the majority (66.6%) of patients in whom a combination of methods were employed. 25/373 (6.7%) patients were diagnosed and managed for chyle leak postoperatively. Seven patients required re-exploration. This included patients with low output chyle leaks who may have settled in a week to 10 days with conservative management. A combination of techniques was successful in the majority (71.4%). The remaining patients were successfully managed conservatively.

We conclude that using a combination of methods to manage thoracic duct injury may be better than using a single modality alone. Early re-exploration was more economical and acceptable for a subset of our patients, as they come from long distances at personal cost.

Cherian a, Ramakant P, Paul MJ, Abraham DT. Management of Chyle Leak in the Neck Following Thyroid Cancer Surgery: A Single Center Experience. World J Endoc Surg 2015;7(1):6-9.